Shares of Li Auto soared after the Chinese new energy vehicle startup announced it turned profitable last year.

Li Auto [HKG: 2015] was trading up 19.1 percent at HKD166.60 (USD21.30) as of 11.20 a.m. today. The company's New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: LI] jumped 19 percent to USD41.31 yesterday.

Net profit totaled CNY11.8 billion (USD1.6 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, versus a net loss of CNY2 billion (USD277.8 million) the year before, the Beijing-based firm announced yesterday. Revenue surged 174 percent to CNY123.9 billion (USD17.2 billion) in the period.

Li Auto sold 376,000 cars last year, ranking first among Chinese NEV startups.

The automaker expects to sell over 50,000 units this month and more than 70,000 units in June, an executive said at the earnings conference call. The figure for the first quarter will likely reach 103,000 cars, up 96 percent from a year earlier, the executive noted.

Li Auto can reach sales of over CNY1 trillion (USD139 billion) if it manages to seize about one-third of the market segment for NEVs priced above CNY200,000 (USD27,790), Chief Executive Officer Li Xiang said. The company does not plan to enter the market of NEVs below CNY200,000, Li added.

Li Auto's L series includes three models priced at above CNY300,000. But the firm plans to launch a new medium-sized sport utility vehicle, the L6, in the next quarter. Priced at between CNY200,000 and CNY300,000, the L6 will compete with Tesla's Model Y, BMW's iX3 and X3, and Audi's Q5.

Li Auto also plans to introduce three all-electric SUVs in the second half of the year.

By the end of the year, Li Auto will add 2,000 super-charging stations in China, covering 60 percent of core areas in third-tier cities and above.

Li Auto had 474 retail centers covering 142 Chinese cities as of Jan. 31. This year, it will add 800 retail centers to deepen its coverage in third- and fourth-tier cities while enhancing that in first- and second-tier ones, Li pointed out.