The Tesla rival expects a delivery volume of 20000-20500 vehicles for the first quarter of 2021.
US-listed Chinese EV maker NIO released its unaudited financial reports for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2020 on March 1, 2021. According to the data, 4Q 2020 revenue reached CNY 6.64 billion, a year-on-year increase of 133.2% with a net loss of CNY1.38 billion, down 51.5% year-on-year.
NIO's vehicle delivery in 2020 increased by 112.6%, to a total of 43700 units, resulting in an increase of 107% in total revenue, reaching CNY 16.25 billion. Of this, automobile sales generated CNY 15.18 billion, a year-on-year increase of 106%. The company reported a gross profit of CNY 1.87 billion, with a gross profit margin of 11.5% with net loss decreasing by 53.04% year-on-year to CNY 5.20 billion.
The earnings release did not have a huge impact on the share price, and as of March 3 it sits at USD 49.76/share, although it could drop to as low as USD 46.32/share (after hours).
The sales volume of NIO was CNY 6.17 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 130.0% and a month-on-month growth of 44.7% for 4Q 2020. The firm pointed out that compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the company had a richer product portfolio and expanded sales network, while the month-on-month growth was mainly due to the capacity climbing of ec6 after it started delivery in late September 2020.
However, due to some unrealized foreign exchange losses caused by CNY depreciation, the net loss of NIO in the fourth quarter of 2020 reached CNY 1.38 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 51.5% and a month-on-month increase of 32.6%. In addition to equity incentive expenses, the company's adjusted net loss was CNY 1.32 billion, down 52.8% year-on-year.
NIO's R&D expenditure in 2020 was CNY 2.48 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 43.8%. According to the EV maker, the reduction of R&D expenses was mainly due to the overall cost control of the company and the improvement of the operation efficiency of R&D functional departments, which reduced the design and development costs and employee compensation.
NIO expects that the delivery volume in the first quarter of 2021 will be 20000-20500 vehicles, with a year-on-year growth of 421%-434%; it is expected that the revenue in the same period will be between CNY 7.38-7.55 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 438% – 451%.