Xpeng reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results Monday, after hiking EV prices due to rising material costs. Also on Monday, Nio began delivering its hotly anticipated ET7 electric car to customers in China. Xpeng stock edged higher Monday while Nio rallied.
The ET7 is seen as a direct rival to the Tesla Model S and the Xpeng P7 in China.
Xpeng Earnings: Billion-Dollar Quarter
Estimates: Wall Street expected Xpeng to lose 33 cents per ADR vs. a loss of seven cents a year ago. Revenue was seen vaulting 180% year over year to $1.223 billion, according to FactSet. That would've marked a slowdown from a 199% sales gain in Q3.
Results: Xpeng reported a less-than-expected loss of 24 cents per American depositary receipt, for both basic and diluted earnings. Revenue from vehicle sales soared 199%, to $1.28 billion, giving the company its first billion-dollar quarter. The number was 49.9% higher than third-quarter sales.
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Xpeng had already revealed that it sold 41,751 EVs in Q4 2021, easily beating its own target. That was up 222% year over year and also up sharply from Q3, despite the auto chip shortage. It forecast Q1 deliveries of 33,500-34,000, implying March deliveries of around 14,600. Xpeng delivered 6,225 EVs in February, up 180% vs. a year earlier but down sharply from 12,922 in January.
So far this year, Chinese EV startups Xpeng and Li Auto outsold rival Nio in January and February. Chinese EV companies will report March and Q1 sales in days ahead.
Delisting Fears Pressure Xpeng Stock
XPEV stock swung higher and lower during Monday's session, ending with a 0.3% gain. Nio shot 6.5% higher. On Friday, shares of Xpeng tanked 7.6% and Nio dived 9.4%. Xpeng stock tumbled across the past year and remains well below the 50-day moving average with no buy point in sight.
Li Auto recovered to a 0.3% gain Monday. China EV giant BYD, which may report this week, rose 0.7%.
Tesla surged 8% Monday after announcing it plans on another stock split. It is closing in on a 1208.10 buy point.
In 2021, EV sales boomed in China, making it once again the world's largest market for electric cars.
Though China EV sales remain strong so far in 2022, other fears are hitting Xpeng and its peers. They slid Friday after microblog service Weibo landed on the list of Chinese companies at risk of being delisted on U.S. stock exchanges.
There are other concerns.
Xpeng, along with Tesla and others, hiked EV prices in March due to rising materials prices. Meanwhile, global chip shortages continue and now an omicron subvariant is surging in parts of China, including key manufacturing hubs.
Then there's the ET7, Nio's first electric sedan and a high-tech, long-range EV, which arrives Monday. It will soon be followed by the smaller ET5. Those new Nio EVs will challenge not only Tesla's Model S and Model 3 in China, but also Xpeng's P7 and P5.
Not least, Volkswagen said in March that it will make China a bigger priority as the Ukraine war slams the auto supply chain in Europe.
