Nio reported a wider net loss for the third quarter as revenue declined, pressured by reduced selling prices amid fierce competition in China’s electric vehicle market.
The automaker’s US-listed shares fell over 4% in premarket trading Wednesday.
Nio (NYSE:NIO) disclosed a net loss of 5.14 billion yuan ($710 million), compared to 4.63 billion yuan in the same period last year. The result fell short of analysts’ expectations, which had forecast a 4.75 billion yuan loss, according to Visible Alpha.
On a per-share basis, the company reported a loss per share of 2.14 yuan, wider than the loss per share of 1.92 yuan that analysts estimated.
Revenue dropped by 2.1% to 18.67 billion yuan, missing the consensus estimate of 19.14 billion yuan.
The company did, however, see an improvement in profitability metrics. Gross margin increased to 10.7% from 8.0% a year earlier, while vehicle margins rose to 13.1% from 11.0%. NIO attributed these gains to reduced material costs per unit, even as average selling prices fell due to changes in the product lineup.
Chinese automakers have slashed prices this year aggressively to expand their market share, driving up sales volumes but putting pressure on profitability.
“In the third quarter of 2024, we achieved a record-breaking delivery of 61,855 smart electric vehicles. NIO brand has firmly secured the top position in China’s BEV market for vehicles priced over RMB 300,000, holding more than a 40% market share in the first three quarters of this year,” said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO.
“Deliveries of the ONVO L60 have also commenced, with production capacity set to rapidly expand in the next few months. The Company's total delivery volume for the fourth quarter is expected to reach a new record,” he added.
Specifically, NIO forecasts deliveries of 72,000 to 75,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, representing an increase of 44%-50% year-over-year.
The company expects revenue to rise to between 19.68 billion yuan and 20.38 billion yuan during the period.