Production and demand for electric vehicles in China rebounded in June.
Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Investors in electric-vehicle stocks should breathe a sigh of relief on Friday.
Production and demand for electric vehicles in China rebounded in June after a Covid-19 induced lull. Deliveries in June at NIO (ticker: NIO
), Li Auto (LI) and XPeng (XPEV) looked strong. That has the shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers rising to start the third quarter of 2022. Tesla (TSLA) stock might get a bump Friday too.
NIO delivered 12,961 vehicles in June, up from 7,024 deliveries in May. June 2022 is a new monthly record for the company. What’s more, June results topped guidance given when NIO reported first-quarter numbers in early June.
For the second quarter, NIO delivered 25,059 units, down from 25,768 cars delivered in the first quarter. Secon- quarter production and deliveries was impacted by China’s zero-Covid policy, which resulted in parts shortages and reduced production for the entire industry.
Li Auto
delivered 13,024 vehicles in June, up from 11,496 deliveries in May. It isn’t a new record, but it’s the third best month in the company’s history. Monthly deliveries topped June’s result in November and December of 2021.
For the second quarter, Li delivered 28,687 units, down from 31,716 delivered in the first quarter. The final second-quarter tally also topped its own guidance.
XPeng results looked best of all. The company reported 15,295 deliveries, up from 10,125 deliveries in May. Like Li, it’s just short of a record, but it’s better than expected based on the company’s recent guidance. For the second quarter, XPeng delivered 34,422, almost flat with the 34,561 cars delivered in the first quarter.
Combined, the three companies delivered 41,280 vehicles in June. That’s the best month ever. What’s more, Li Auto announced that its new model, the Li 9, is now on sale. That’s another positive for investors to consider.
Li stock was up 2.1% in premarket trading. NIO shares have gained 2.4%. XPeng shares rose 2.1%.
Tesla (TSLA) stock seems to be getting a small boost too. China is an important market for the company and Tesla’s most productive plant is in Shanghai. Shares were up 0.2% in premarket trading. So far, the impact looks small. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures were slipping about 0.1%.
Tesla should report its second-quarter delivery results shortly. Wall Street expects roughly 250,000 units, down from 310,000 vehicles delivered in the first quarter.
Anything better than that should be enough to provide some relief for investors. They could use it. In the first half of 2022, Tesla stock dropped about 37%. NIO and Xpeng shares fell 31% and 37%, respectively. Li stock bucked the trend and managed gains, rising 19%.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
