By Jiahui Huang


NIO's shares rose sharply in Hong Kong after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker's deliveries more than doubled in April.

Shares of the Shanghai-based company rose 23% to 43.85 Hong Kong dollars (US$5.61), on track for their largest one-day gain in more than two years. Its ADRs closed 12% higher in U.S. trading overnight.

Before Thursday's rally, NIO shares had roughly halved over the first four months of the year as the price war in China's EV market intensified.

"A short squeeze drove the share-price rise," CCB International analyst Qu Ke said.

Daiwa analyst Kelvin Lau also attributed the sharp gains to short-covering.

NIO said Wednesday that April deliveries more than doubled from a year earlier to 15,620 EVs, their fastest pace of growth since October 2022. Last month's figures, helped by the release of new models and lower battery costs for consumers, marked an increase from 11,866 deliveries in March.

NIO has set an annual sales target of 180,000 units to 200,000 units for 2024. With the April figures, Qu said NIO should aim for monthly sales of at least 15,000 units to reach its goal.

In March, the EV maker slashed monthly fees for its BaaS battery-rental services, lowering the threshold for purchasing a NIO car. NIO said last week at the Beijing Auto Show that cheaper BaaS services boosted its orders.

Analysts said the move eased one of the main barriers to entry for consumers: battery cost.

NIO launched the latest version of its ET7 model last week during the Beijing Auto Show.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-02-24 0011ET