• Nio shares jumped over 7% in Hong Kong early trading after its CEO reiterated strong confidence in an annual delivery growth target of 40% to 50%.
• The stock rally was also driven by the strong sales record of the ES8 and the aggressive pricing strategy for the new ES9 SUV.

Shares of Nio Inc surged in Hong Kong early trading on Monday after its CEO reiterated confidence in achieving full-year delivery target and as the ES8 continued its strong performance.

As of press time, the stock had climbed 7.26% to HK$52.3 per share.

This performance significantly outpaced its Chinese EV peers, with Xpeng rising 1.72% and Li Auto gaining 0.88% by comparison. BYD also saw a solid increase of 4.66% during the same trading session.

Nio’s further gains followed weekend comments by Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li, the robust performance of the ES8, and the pre-sales launch of the new ES9 SUV (sport utility vehicle).

Speaking on the sidelines of the China EV 100 forum in Beijing over the weekend, Li reiterated his confidence in achieving the company’s vehicle delivery target for this year, saying that Nio has entered its third stage of development since the second half of last year.

He expects the company to achieve an annual delivery growth rate of 40% to 50% this year, as Nio already realized a 98.3% year-on-year increase in the first quarter, local media Sina Tech reported on April 11, citing an interview with him.

This strong momentum provides a solid foundation for full-year delivery expectations, while investor sentiment was also boosted by the success of the revamped ES8 and the debut of the higher-priced ES9.

The third-generation ES8 recorded 16,255 retail sales in March, securing the sales championship for vehicles priced above 400,000 yuan ($58,540) in China for four consecutive months, Nio said earlier today.

The model reached a milestone of 90,000 deliveries in just 195 days, maintaining a robust average of over 3,000 deliveries per week.

Adding to this positive outlook, Nio launched pre-sales for its new flagship ES9 SUV last Thursday, starting at an aggressive price of 528,000 yuan.

This starting price is 31% lower than the ET9 sedan equipped with similar advanced technologies, as the company attempts to replicate the success of the ES8 in a more premium market segment.

The official launch of the ES9 is expected to take place in late May, with deliveries slated to begin on June 1.

Li proposes standardizing battery cells and reducing chip varieties to unlock over 100 billion yuan in industry-wide cost savings.

($1 = 6.8334 yuan)