China International Capital Corporation (CICC) raised on Friday its target price on Nio by 23% to HK$61.5 for the Hong Kong-listed shares and $8.00 for the US-listed stock in a research note published.
CICC’s price target increase came a day after the Shanghai-headquartered EV maker pre-launched and opened pre-orders for its new flagship SUV ES9.
The bank said the pre-sale pricing was broadly in line with market expectations and noted that even the base model comes well-equipped, which the bank believes gives it strong competitiveness in the premium SUV segment.
The first batch of ES9 display vehicles has already arrived at dealerships and the official launch event — where the final price will be announced — is scheduled for late May.
Deliveries of the centre-row-seat configuration will begin at the end of May, while the aisle-seat configuration will follow at the end of July.
Production Ramp-Up
CICC expects the ES9’s production ramp-up to be relatively rapid, using the ES8 as a benchmark.
In the near term, CICC noted that Nio’s guidance for the first quarter of 2026 projects that overall vehicle gross margin will remain broadly flat quarter over quarter.
The bank attributed this to a further increase in the proportion of ES8 deliveries, which helps offset cost inflation pressures facing the wider industry.
Nio is maintaining its full-year sales growth target of 40% to 50%, which would translate to approximately 456,000 to 489,000 vehicles based on 2025 delivery figures.
CICC said the launch of the ES9, the Onvo L80, and a third large SUV will leverage leading product capabilities and precise pricing to build a robust large-SUV portfolio.
New Price Target
The new targets imply upside of 19% for the Hong Kong stock based on Thursday’s closing price of HK$48.76 and 25% for the US-listed shares.
CICC maintained its Outperform rating and its non-GAAP earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027.
The Hong Kong and US targets both correspond to 1.1x price-to-sales for 2026, up from the current trading multiple of 0.9x.
The bank had cut its Nio target price by 19% to HK$50/US$6.5 in February, citing intensifying industry competition.
Nio‘s Hong Kong-listed shares closed at HK$48.76 on Friday, down 5.96% on the day.
ES9 Pre-Launch Details
Nio opened pre-sales for the ES9 in three trims with the battery included: the Executive Luxury Edition at 528,000 yuan ($77,200), the Executive Signature at 588,000 yuan ($86,000), and the Horizon Special Edition at 698,000 yuan.
Under Nio’s Battery as a Service scheme, with the 102 kWh pack leased separately for 1,128 yuan per month, those prices fall to 420,000, 480,000, and 550,000 yuan respectively.
Both six-seat configurations — centre island and aisle layout — are available across all trims.
The model introduces what Nio described as the automotive industry’s first headlight system that projects the vehicle’s planned driving path onto the road surface.
The High-Definition Projective Lighting system synchronises pixel-level lighting with the ADAS layer’s lane-level navigation data in real time, illuminating road geometry ahead of the driver’s steering input.
Li said on early Friday that demand for the ES9 from customers outside the existing Nio owner base has outpaced the early pace of the third-generation ES8, which drew over 60% of its buyers from traditional luxury brands including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Porsche.
The ES8 accumulated 90,000 deliveries in 195 days after its September launch and led China’s large SUV segment for several consecutive months.
