Nio Inc. (NIO): Here are a few noteworthy points from the EV maker’s Q4 earnings report

Shares of Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) were down 10% on Friday after the company delivered mixed results for the fourth quarter of 2021 a day ago along with guidance that fell below expectations. The stock has dropped 37% year-to-date and 45% over the past 12 months. Here are a few noteworthy points from the company’s earnings report:

Mixed results

Total revenues for Q4 2021 increased 49.1% year-over-year to $1.55 billion, beating market estimates. Adjusted net loss per ADS of $0.16 missed expectations. Vehicle sales were up 49.3% YoY at $1.45 billion. Gross profit rose 48.8% YoY while gross margin remained flat at 17.2%. Vehicle margin rose to 20.9% from 17.2% last year.

Deliveries

During the fourth quarter of 2021, Nio delivered 25,034 vehicles, up 44.3% year-over-year. Despite facing headwinds from the pandemic, semiconductor shortages and supply chain volatilities, Nio held its leading position in the premium smart EV market in China. The company delivered 91,429 vehicles in FY2021, reflecting a growth of 109.1%.

In January 2022, Nio delivered 9,652 vehicles, which was up 34% YoY. In February, deliveries amounted to 6,131, up 10% YoY. At February-end, cumulative deliveries stood at 182,853 vehicles. The company is set to begin deliveries of its ET7 by the end of March and the delivery of the ET5 in September.

Nio is seeing positive response for ES8 in Norway and in 2022, the company plans on expanding its products and services to Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Power network

Nio has deployed 866 battery swap stations in 190 cities and completed over 7.6 million swaps in China. The company currently has 711 super-charging stations and 3,786 destination chargers in China. In 2022, the EV maker will add 30 new destination charging routes to the Power Up Plan. This will bring Nio’s power network to over 1,300 battery swap stations, 6,000 power chargers and 10,000 destination chargers in China.

EV market

During 2021, the battery electric vehicle market in China gained significant traction. On its quarterly conference call, Nio stated that according to the China Passenger Car Association, the retail penetration rate of battery electric vehicles grew from 5.9% in January to 18.6% in December last year.

In Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, the penetration rate of BEVs grew more prominently. In Shanghai, Nio held a market share of 23%. The company believes this EV growth trend will gradually expand to Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities in the future.

Outlook   

For the first quarter of 2022, Nio expects to deliver 25,000 to 26,000 vehicles, which would reflect a growth of around 24.6-29.6% year-over-year. The company expects total revenue to range between $1.51-1.56 billion, reflecting a growth of around 20.6-25.1% from the prior-year period. The outlook for both revenue and deliveries came below analysts’ expectations.

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