JP Morgan Chase disclosed on Monday that it nearly exited its position in the premium Chinese EV maker Nio earlier this year.
After closing last year holding 3,986,722 Nio shares, the largest U.S. bank slashed its stake by 95.3% in the first quarter, selling 3,799,160 shares. As of the end of March, the remaining 187,562 shares were valued at below $720,000.
Additionally, the bank sold 97% of its call options on Nio while simultaneously buying put options betting on a potential decline in Nio shares
As of March 31, the firm held 58,900 put option contracts on Nio, a sharp increase from just 1,200 contracts three months earlier, according to its latest 13F filing. That marks a 4,800% jump in put holdings when compared to the final quarter of 2024.
JP Morgan Chase opened a position in Nio in the first quarter of 2019 buying 288,448 shares, a few months after the carmaker went public.
Its stake increased rapidly to over 10.2 million shares — a position valued at more than $212 million as of September 2020. However, and with some fluctuations, it has overall decreased over the last four years.
The latest portfolio update showed that the bank’s stake in Nio is now at a record low despite the expansion to new markets planned for this year and the launch of the new sub-brand, Firefly.
Institutional ownership in Nio has declined significantly over the past three years.
According to Fintel, 491 institutional investors now hold approximately 199.6 million shares, down about 66% from early 2022, when holdings reached nearly 600 million shares and the stock traded in the $15—$25 range.
Data from Nasdaq shows that UBS is Nio’s largest institutional shareholder as of the end of 2024 with 44.16 million shares with Morgan Stanley and Susquehanna following with 24.4 million and 11.14 million shares, respectively.
As of Tuesday, these three firms have not yet filed their quarterly portfolio update with the US regulators.
As reported on Sunday, Goldman Sachs also trimmed its position in Nio. The investment bank sold nearly 2.4 million shares during the first quarter of the year, cutting its position by 57%.
BlackRock increased its stake in the company by 64.9% in the first quarter of 2025. The world’s largest asset manager acquired 1,352,058 shares during the period, bringing its total to 3.43 million shares as of March 31, the filing showed.
Despite the quarterly increase, BlackRock’s overall holdings in Nio have declined.
It ended 2023 with 62.6 million shares, added 10,000 shares in the first quarter, and then sold nearly 2.2 million shares in the second quarter, lowering its position to 60.5 million shares.
Nio opened pre-orders on Saturday for its ES6, EC6, ET5 and ET5 Touring models. The official launch of the refreshed versions is planned to take place on May 16 (ES6 and EC6) and on May 25 (ET5 and the ET5 Touring.)
The brand delivered its 700,000th vehicle on Saturday, indicating that deliveries between May 1 and 10 stood at 2,615 units.
Nio Group saw its main brand deliver 19,269 vehicles in April, increasing both sequentially (from 10,219) and year over year (from 15,620).
