NIO shares experienced a volatile session on Thursday, initially dipping on fresh competitive pressures from Li Auto before surging after the electric vehicle maker reported first-quarter results that crushed Wall Street expectations. The initial decline was triggered by Li Auto’s aggressive 10% price cut on its L9 SUV, which undercut NIO’s upcoming ES9 model and reignited concerns about the intensifying price war in China’s premium EV segment.
Li Auto’s discounted L9 is now priced at approximately 509,800 yuan, below the expected 528,000 yuan for NIO’s ES9. This reset pricing expectations for high-end electric SUVs and raised fears that premium brands like NIO would struggle to defend margins. Rising lithium costs, which have surged from 75,000 yuan per tonne in mid-2025 to around 190,000 yuan, added to the financial strain for manufacturers reliant on external suppliers.
However, sentiment shifted abruptly after NIO’s Q1 earnings release. Revenue came in at RMB 25.53 billion (~$3.8 billion), up 112.2% year-over-year and slightly above the consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings per share swung to a small profit of RMB 0.02, versus analyst expectations of a RMB 0.34 loss. Vehicle deliveries reached 83,465 units, a 98.3% increase from a year ago, driven by all three brands—NIO (58,543), ONVO (13,339), and the newly launched Firefly (11,583).
Gross margin expanded sharply to 19.0% from 7.6% a year earlier, reflecting improved cost efficiency and a richer product mix. For the second quarter, NIO guided for revenue of RMB 32.78–34.44 billion and deliveries of 110,000–115,000 vehicles, both well above consensus, signaling continued momentum from new model launches including the ES9 and ONVO L80.
NIO stock climbed more than 5% in U.S. premarket trading, reaching $5.77, as the strong operating performance overshadowed earlier pricing concerns. The results demonstrate NIO’s ability to deliver robust growth and margin expansion even as the broader Chinese auto market faces headwinds.
