US-listed shares of Chinese EV maker Nio have surged 46% over the past six trading sessions, reaching a new high since early October 2024.
A wave of analyst upgrades and strong August performance from Nio’s sub-brands Onvo and Firefly pointing to record sales for the month have contributed to a major surge in both Hong Kong and US-listed shares.
The current record is from December 2024, when the Shanghai-headquartered Group delivered 31,138 vehicles across its Nio and Onvo brands. Deliveries of the third brand, Firefly, began last April.
Announcement of even more global markets, together with management’s reaffirmation of its goal to achieve profitability by the fourth quarter, have further fueled investor optimism.
The stock traded at $4.37 in early trading on August 14. By press time, Nio shares had surged 14.9% to $6.37.
Shares languished in the first half of 2025 amid slowing demand and mounting losses, but are now trading at their highest level since October last year — 10 months ago.
The rally reflects growing confidence that Nio can sustain record deliveries across its three brands — Nio, Onvo and Firefly — ahead of September’s official figures.
Momentum gathered pace after Deutsche Bank raised its price target earlier this Friday, citing the unexpectedly low pre-sale price of the revamped ES8 flagship SUV.
The call followed Morgan Stanley’s own upgrade earlier in the week, when the bank lifted its target and forecast a 28% upside potential for the stock.
The immediate trigger for Deutsche Bank’s target hike was the Thursday evening pre-launch of the new ES8, Nio’s large SUV that now comes with a pre-sale price below market expectations.
At the media Q&A session held early Friday morning, Nio‘s co-founder and president Qin Lihong said that pre-orders for the ES8 “have already exceeded those of the Onvo L90 in the same period after their respective pre-launches.”
The comment suggested renewed demand for Nio’s core premium brand, which has struggled in recent months despite refreshed models.
Deliveries in July of the main brand fell both year over year and sequentially.
By undercutting expectations, Nio is positioning the ES8 as a more competitive option while leveraging its battery-swap service to further reduce upfront costs.
In the media session earlier this Friday, the founder and CEO William Li guaranteed that the aggressive pricing still allows Nio to secure a gross profit margin due to a higher scale, in-house developed technology and shared R&D costs.
If the ES8 provided reassurance about the premium brand, Onvo — Nio’s family-focused sub-brand launched last year — delivered hard evidence of growth.
According to the management, the L90 — Onvo’s large SUV, — has delivered more than 7,000 units between August 1 and August 21.
The strong performance was shown on Tuesday, with last week’s insurance registration data showing Onvo recorded 3,790 registrations between August 11-17, its second-highest weekly tally since deliveries began nearly a year ago.
Nio’s youngest sub-brand Firefly, aimed at Europe’s compact EV segment, also marked an early milestone.
Firefly handed over the first units late last week in Europe, marking the start of its deliveries on the continent.
Beyond products, Nio is also accelerating its global footprint.
On Monday, the company announced it would enter Singapore, Uzbekistan and Costa Rica before the end of 2026, bringing its brand presence to America for the first time.
Earlier today, Nio’s co-founder and president Lihong added another dimension, confirming that expansion to Australia and New Zealand is planned “in the near future”.
The company has also stepped up its European campaign. Last week, it opened the first pop up store in Greece, and earlier this week, it held a media launch in Belgium to showcase the Firefly and Nio lineups.
The company is projected to announce an all-time high for group deliveries across its three brands on September 1, twenty four hours before reporting its second quarter earnings results.
The main Nio brand, meanwhile, is seeing early traction with the ES8 pre-orders.
The stock has gained 30.6% over the past five days, it is up 44% year-to-date and nearly 54% over the past year.
However, the first months of 2025 were critical for the EV stock. Nio shares reached a new five-year low last April at $3.02 after its sub-brand Onvo sharply missed its sales targets by over 70%, causing the exit of the brand’s chief Alan Ai.
