Nio reports wider second-quarter loss despite increase in EV shipments

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio had a loss of $409.8 million in the second quarter, representing significantly widening losses, despite deliveries that surpassed year-ago levels and exceeded its own guidance.

Here are the key numbers from Nio’s second-quarter earnings report.

• Revenue: $1.54 billion, vs. $1.31 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
• Adjusted loss per share: 20 cents, vs. 3 cents in the second quarter of 2021.
• Cash at quarter-end: $8.1 billion, down slightly from $8.4 billion as of March 31.

The company’s gross margin for the period was 13.0%, significantly lower than the 14.6% gross margin it reported last quarter and the 18.6% it saw in the second quarter of last year.

Its net loss for the period of $409.8 million marked an increase of 50.4% from the first quarter and an increase of 316.4% from the same period last year.

Nio’s shares were down 5% in premarket trading Wednesday as investors digested the report.

The company was affected by “cost volatilities” as it and its suppliers scrambled to keep production running through Covid shutdowns in April and May, Chief Financial Officer Steven Wei Fang said in a statement.

Those cost pressures, plus increased spending on its recharging and service networks, dented Nio’s gross margin.

The company previously announced it delivered 25,059 vehicles in the second quarter, slightly fewer than in the first quarter but above its own guidance.

Nio was only able to deliver about 12,000 vehicles in April and May combined as Covid shutdowns hampered its production and supply lines. But the company said in May that it expected improvements in June, and guided for deliveries between 23,000 and 25,000 vehicles for the quarter.

The company delivered 21,896 vehicles during the second quarter of last year.

CEO William Bin Li said in a statement Wednesday that the second half of 2022 is a “critical period” for the company. Deliveries of Nio’s new SUV, the ET7, hit full speed last month, he said, and production of the new ET5 sedan is on track to begin at the end of September.

With production back to normal, Nio expects to deliver between 31,000 and 33,000 vehicles in the third quarter and to generate revenue between $1.9 billion and $2 billion in the period.