Nio's shares dropped after the Chinese electric vehicle maker said its loss expanded 8.1 percent last year from the previous year, with deliveries and gross margin falling short of target.
Nio [HKG: 9866] fell 3.5 percent to HKD34.65 (USD4.46) a share as of 10.40 a.m. in Hong Kong today. Its New York-listed stock [NYSE: NIO] ended 4.5 percent at USD4.50 on March 21.
Net loss was CNY22.4 billion (USD3.1 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Nio said in a financial report released on March 21. Revenue jumped 18.2 percent to CNY65.7 billion, with vehicle margin growing to 12.3 percent from 9.5 percent.
Despite Nio's deliveries surging 39 percent to 221,970 units last year from the previous one, it missed its sales and gross margin targets. Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive William Li had set the monthly sales goal at over 20,000 units and the annual one at 230,000 units while aiming for a gross margin of between 15 percent and 18 percent.
"Looking ahead to 2025, we will sharpen our focus on enhancing profitability by driving cost reductions through technological advancements, optimizing operational efficiency, and accelerating scalable growth," said Stanley Yu, chief financial officer of Nio.
For the fourth quarter of last year, Nio's net loss widened 38 percent to CNY7.1 billion (USD979.4 million) from a year earlier, while its revenue rose 15.2 percent to CNY19.7 billion. The Shanghai-based firm held CNY41.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31, with its debt-to-asset ratio reaching 87 percent.
Nio expects deliveries to jump around 36 percent to 43 percent to between 41,000 and 43,000 vehicles this quarter from a year ago, while its revenue will likely top between CNY12.4 billion and CNY12.9 billion, according to the company.
Nio plans to launch nine new models across its Nio, Onvo, and Firefly brands this year, aiming to achieve a 20 percent gross margin for the first brand and 15 percent for Onvo in the fourth quarter. In addition, the carmaker has built 3,167 battery swap stations nationwide and plans to continue expanding the network throughout 2025.
