NEW YORK, March 3, 2026, 08:01 EST — Premarket
NIO Inc slid 1.5% to $4.65 ahead of the bell Tuesday, following a 3.1% drop on Monday that left shares at $4.72.
Investors are sifting through a wave of monthly sales data from China’s automakers, with NIO’s earnings on deck next week. February covered the lengthy Lunar New Year holiday, leaving the market to untangle holiday disruption from any signs of a deeper slowdown.
February delivery numbers from Chinese automakers painted a rough picture: BYD posted a 41% drop year-on-year, and XPeng deliveries plunged 50%. NIO, however, moved the other way, notching a 58% increase. “First-quarter sales will likely be soft,” Morningstar senior equity analyst Vincent Sun said. He noted that a trade-in subsidy scheme based on car prices could end up favoring more expensive models. MarketScreener
NIO reported on March 2 that it delivered 20,797 vehicles in February—a jump of 57.6% year over year. Breaking it down: 15,159 were under the NIO name, 2,981 came from ONVO, and 2,657 from FIREFLY. So far this year, deliveries have totaled 47,979 units, pushing cumulative deliveries to 1,045,571 as of Feb. 28. The company also pointed to a milestone: 100 million cumulative battery swaps, hit on Feb. 6.
Despite the year-on-year surge, deliveries actually slid on a month-over-month basis. February saw a 23.49% decline from January, with the Spring Festival holiday falling in mid-to-late February, CnEVPost said.
NIO plans to release its unaudited Q4 and full-year 2025 results on March 10, ahead of the U.S. market open. The earnings call is set for 8:00 a.m. Eastern time.
The company projected in February that it would notch its first adjusted operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2025, citing stronger sales alongside reduced costs. The measure, which strips out certain items and isn’t based on standard accounting, marks a milestone for the group.
Traders are already looking past the February headline, focusing instead on the details in the earnings—vehicle margin, cash burn, and the real test: can NIO maintain volume in a market packed with competitors, without resorting to even more incentives?
The downside risk still looms. If the year opens weak, or if another price war flares up, profit per vehicle could slip. Sluggish growth in newer brands would also mean more spending to protect market share.
All eyes now shift to March 10, when NIO reports and faces the usual Q&A. Any hints on first-quarter demand or cost trends—that’s what could move the stock next.
