Why Nio Stock Was Stuck in the Slow Lane Today – The Motley Fool

What happened

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio‘s (NIO 0.10%) started out with a stall. The company’s American Depositary Shares (ADSes) dipped in price Monday following an analyst’s pre-earnings price target cut.

So what

Before market open, Deutsche Bank‘s Edison Yu made a double-digit reduction to his Nio target; it now stands at $39 per share, from the previous $45. The move is based on lower estimates for the EV company’s sales. This follows the latest quarterly results from Xpeng published last week, which revealed that Nio’s Chinese peer is expecting a notable drop in vehicle deliveries in its third quarter.

Nio’s second-quarter earnings release is slated for publication next Wednesday, Sept. 7.

In a new research note, Yu wrote that “consensus estimates for 3Q/4Q clearly need to come down.” Despite this assessment and his price target cut, however, Yu remains bullish on the company’s future, as he feels a “product supercycle” is on the horizon after those quarters. In fact, Nio remains a top Chinese EV stock pick at Deutsche Bank.

On average, prognosticators tracking the stock are modeling second-quarter sales for Nio of $1.43 billion, which would be 9% higher year over year. On the other hand, they’re anticipating a deeper net loss of $0.17 per ADS — the year-ago deficit was $0.07.

Now what

Often referred to, with some degree of accuracy, as “the Chinese Tesla,” Nio is seen by many as a bellwether of that country’s EV industry. As in the U.S., there remains strong demand for such autos, plus the Chinese government has supported the industry through various initiatives — such as with the national infrastructure stimulus package announced last week.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nio Inc. and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.