Nio Inc. slipped to a narrow net loss in the first quarter of 2026, the Shanghai-headquartered electric-vehicle maker reported on Thursday, reversing the first quarterly profit in its history a quarter earlier.
However, the EV maker reported improving margins and tighter costs kept the company profitable on an adjusted basis.
The company reported a net loss of 332.1 million yuan ($48.1 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with a net profit of 282.7 million yuan in the fourth quarter of 2025 and a net loss of 6,750.0 million yuan in the first quarter of 2025.
Excluding share-based compensation expenses, Nio remained in the black, posting an adjusted net profit of 43.5 million yuan ($6.3 million). That was down from an adjusted net profit of 726.8 million yuan in the fourth quarter but a sharp turnaround from an adjusted net loss of 6,279.1 million yuan a year earlier.
Total revenues rose 112.2% year-over-year to 25,532.7 million yuan ($3,701.5 million), down 26.3% from the fourth quarter but above the company’s guidance range of 24,482 million to 25,176 million yuan.
The narrow loss is a far softer reversal than the headline swing from profit to loss suggests. The operating loss shrank 95.2% from a year earlier, and the net loss narrowed 95.1% over the same period.
A Seasonal Reversal
The slide back into the red reflects the seasonal weakness that typically affects Chinese automakers in the first quarter, when the Lunar New Year holiday slows production and deliveries.
Nio delivered 83,465 vehicles in the first quarter, up 98.3% from the 42,094 delivered a year earlier but down 33.1% from the record 124,807 delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The deliveries comprised 58,543 vehicles from the premium Nio brand, 13,339 from the family-oriented Onvo, and 11,583 from the smaller Firefly marque.
The sequential decline mirrors the pattern Nio recorded a year earlier, when first-quarter 2025 deliveries fell 42.1% from the fourth quarter of 2024 and total revenue dropped 38.9% over the same period.
The fewer vehicles delivered left Nio with a smaller revenue base over which to spread fixed costs, the central reason the quarter slipped into a loss.
Margins Improved
Vehicle margin rose to 18.8% in the first quarter, up 70 basis points from 18.1% in the fourth quarter and 860 basis points from 10.2% a year earlier.
Gross margin climbed to 19.0%, up 150 basis points from 17.5% in the fourth quarter and 1,140 basis points from 7.6% in the first quarter of 2025.
The improvement indicates the loss was driven by lower volume rather than weaker economics, and exceeded the guidance founder and Chief Executive Officer William Li gave on the fourth-quarter call, when he said the first-quarter margin would be “maintained at a similar level as in Q4.”
Vehicle sales were 22,783.7 million yuan ($3.302.9 billion), up 129.2% year-over-year and down 27.9% from the fourth quarter.
Gross profit was 4.859 billion yuan ($704.4 million), up 428.4% from a year earlier and down 20.0% sequentially.
CEO Comments
The company’s founder and CEO William Li noted that the second quarter of the year is “an intensive new product launch and delivery cycle.”
“We expect total deliveries in the second quarter to range between 110,000 and 115,000 vehicles, with a year-over-year growth of 52.7% to 59.6%,” he added.
“After eleven years of sustained investment and dedication, the Company has built comprehensive systematic innovation capabilities, serving as the core foundation for us to continuously launch innovative products and strengthen our long-term competitiveness,” Li said as the company prepares to start deliveries of its new flagship SUV ES9
Commenting on the cheapest sub-brand Firefly, Li said that the marque “will continue to launch special edition models to deepen emotional connections with users.”
Operations and Cash
Loss from operations was 308.8 million yuan ($44.8 million), compared with a profit from operations of 807.3 million yuan in the fourth quarter and a loss of 6,418.1 million yuan a year earlier.
Excluding share-based compensation, Nio posted an adjusted operating profit (non-GAAP) of 66.8 million yuan ($9.7 million), down from 1,251.3 million yuan in the fourth quarter but reversing an adjusted operating loss of 5,947.2 million yuan a year earlier.
Cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and long-term time deposits stood at 48.2 billion yuan ($7.0 billion) as of March 31, 2026, up sharply from 26.0 billion yuan a year earlier.
How Nio Reached Profitability
The first-quarter performance follows a fourth quarter in which cost discipline, alongside record deliveries and an improved product mix, delivered Nio’s first-ever quarterly profit.
Cost reductions were central to that result.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, research and development expenses fell 44.3% year-over-year and 15.3% from the prior quarter to 2.03 billion yuan, while selling, general and administrative expenses dropped 27.5% year-over-year and 15.5% sequentially to 3.54 billion yuan.
The shift in spending is tied to Nio’s Core Business Unit framework, an internal mechanism designed to improve efficiency.
On the fourth-quarter earnings call, CFO Stanley Yu Qu said the company would continue using the framework to raise research and development efficiency, avoid ineffective spending, and maximize output for every yuan invested.
The day after Nio reported its fourth-quarter results in March, its Hong Kong-listed shares closed more than 16% above their pre-earnings level, lifting the company’s market value back above HK$100 billion.
A Pivotal Product Month
The results come during an important product month for the company founded by William Li.
Nio is launching its flagship ES9 SUV, which goes on sale and begins deliveries on May 27 — five days earlier than the June 1 timeline management had previously signalled.
May 15 marked the second anniversary of the Onvo sub-brand, the family-oriented marque that has become a contributor to delivery volume since its 2024 launch.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Onvo accounted for 38,290 of the 124,807 deliveries.
Nio operates three brands: the premium Nio marque, the family-oriented Onvo, and the smaller Firefly brand.
The Path to Full-Year Profitability
The fourth-quarter net profit of 282.7 million yuan fulfilled the main financial target Nio had set at the start of 2025, achieved as record deliveries and an improved product mix drove a turnaround from one of its deepest loss-making periods.
For 2026, the company has targeted its first full year of profitability — a goal the first-quarter result, with its adjusted profit and improved margins, leaves within reach despite the seasonal dip.
Stock Reaction
Nio’s US-listed shares were jumping 5.6% at $5.90 in pre-market trading on Thursday immediately after the release, after closing down 2.61% at $5.59 on Wednesday.
The stock has fallen 10.6% over the past five trading sessions and 11.0% over the past month, though it remains up 9.6% year-to-date and 44.1% over the past year.
Nio shares have traded between $3.34 and $8.02 over the past 52 weeks, giving the company a market capitalization of about $14.3 billion.
A Long Way From the 2021 Peak
The current share price remains far below Nio’s all-time high of $66.99, reached in January 2021.
The stock peaked as Nio hosted its annual Nio Day event, at which founder and Chief Executive Officer William Li unveiled the ET7 — the company’s first-ever sedan and the first model built on its second-generation platform.
At the same event, Li presented a worldwide map outlining Nio’s intention to operate across 25 countries and regions by 2025, with the United States among the highlighted markets — signalling a US market entry that ultimately did not materialize.
As EV exclusively reported in June 2025, Nio halted its US expansion plans and laid off the chief business officer of its US subsidiary. The executive confirmed his departure months later on his LinkedIn profile.
Nio has since concentrated its international expansion on Europe and select markets in the Middle East and Asia, rather than the United States.
