UBS has raised its price target on EV maker Nio for the second time in two weeks, lifting its rating on the stock to Buy.
As of late August, the Swiss bank had a target of $5.40 on Nio’s U.S.-listed shares.
On September 2, the same day the Chinese carmaker reported its second-quarter results, UBS analyst Paul Gong lifted the target to $6.20 while reiterating a Neutral rating.
Exactly two weeks later, UBS raised its view again.
In a new note obtained by PriceTarget, Gong upgraded Nio from Neutral to Buy and increased the target price by 37% to $8.50.
“We upgrade Nio from Neutral to Buy, as the company’s latest products could further attract consumers after the US$1bn equity offerings strengthened visibility on its healthy operations,” Gong wrote.
The analyst said UBS now expects Nio to hold net cash of 21 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) by the end of 2025 and to reach free cash flow breakeven in 2026.
“With upward consensus revisions to its revenue and bottom-line estimates, Nio’s valuation discount with its closest peer XPeng should also narrow, in our view. We raise our price target from US$6.20 to US$8.50, based on 1.0x 2026E P/S,” he added.
UBS also revised its 2025–2027 sales forecast upwards by 2% to 19%, citing momentum at Nio’s mass-market sub-brand Onvo.
Insurance registration data shared earlier this Tuesday showed that the Nio Group has sold 6,170 vehicles in China between September 8 and 14 — of which 2,425 were from its core brand.
Figures of the three brands compiled — Nio, Onvo and Firefly — have increased by 1.6% from the first week of September, when the Group had sold 6,270 vehicles.
The stock had fallen as much as 10% last Wednesday after Nio announced a $1 billion equity raise, closing at $5.72 versus $6.27 before the offering was disclosed.
Shares then rebounded, climbing 6% to $6.07 on Thursday and extending gains to $6.22 on Friday.
On Monday, Nio extended that rally, with U.S.-listed shares up 3.7% to $6.45 in premarket trading.
The move erased last week’s losses from the fundraising and came ahead of Nio Day on September 20, when the company will launch its three-row ES8 SUV.
Other banks weighed in on the deal last week.
JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating with an $8 target, calling the fundraising “not a surprise” given industrywide capital needs, though noting the timing so soon after results was unexpected. Goldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating, trimming its U.S. target to $4.10 and setting HK$31.8 for the Hong Kong listing.
Goldman estimated the fresh capital will reduce Nio’s debt ratio to 92% from 98% and forecast R&D spending of 11 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) annually in 2025 and 2026.
