$NIO Major Room For Growth2022 was a rough year for the EV industry as supply chain woes hampered EV manufacturers’ production. However, the industry’s outlook in 2023 appears to be bright with China relaxing its Covid lockdowns. An EV stock that could benefit from this bullish outlook is NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) which has been beaten down thanks to the unfortunate circumstances in 2022. Despite this, NIO continued to witness major growth in its deliveries as its EVs’ technology and capabilities are attractive to several EV enthusiasts. With upcoming launches and promising plans this year, NIO stock forecast appears to be brighter than ever. In light of this, NIO stock is one of the EV stocks to watch closely this year as it could rebound from its current multi-year lows.
NIO Fundamentals
Already a top EV manufacturer, NIO has been gaining more interest from investors recently after announcing its December deliveries. In this announcement, NIO delivered 15.8 thousand vehicles – new record high monthly delivery. In this way, NIO was able to deliver more than 40 thousand vehicles in Q4 2022 – a 60% YOY increase. Despite these promising numbers, NIO was significantly impacted by supply chain constraints resulting from the Covid outbreak in China after easing lockdowns and disruptions on delivery and registration procedures involving users. As a result, NIO had to slash its Q4 delivery expectations from 43-48 thousand to 38.5-39.5 thousand.
Considering that the restrictions and lockdowns enforced by China have affected NIO and other EV manufacturers substantially, NIO stock forecast for 2023 appears to be bullish since China has eased these lockdowns. In this way, NIO could be set for a significant increase in production which could allow NIO stock to appreciate in value with more deliveries. For this reason, NIO stock could be one of the best performing EV stocks in 2023 thanks to its vehicles’ capabilities.
On that note, NIO is currently planning to deliver 5 new vehicles based on its NIO Technology 2.0 platform while commencing the R&D of the NT3 platform in the first half of 2023. With this in mind, NIO has only shared two new EVs – EC7 and ES8 – which are set to be delivered starting May and June 2023 respectively. Through these efforts, NIO believes it could reach its milestones for 2023 and accelerate its deliveries in services in Europe. In light of these plans, NIO stock forecast appears to be bullish in 2023 and beyond considering its current PPS.
Known for its innovative technologies, NIO’s most prominent technology is its unique battery swapping technology which takes only 3 minutes to swap a fully charged battery. Another advantage of this technology is its ability to maintain the value of NIO’s EVs since the battery price represents more than 30% of the whole vehicle. In this way, NIO has a competitive advantage as its EVs would not be devalued as the battery is worn out. Based on this, NIO could be well-positioned to secure a significant share of the EV market once it ramps up production.
With the company’s deliveries growing rapidly, NIO has been actively building swap stations around the world. In 2022, NIO built 538 new stations of which 346 are located on highways. NIO is also looking to enhance swap stations and is currently working to deploy the third-generation battery swap station and 500kW ultra-fast chargers in March. The third-generation swap stations are expected to achieve more efficient vehicle-station coordination and are capable of performing up to 408 swaps per day.
Meanwhile, the 500kW ultra-fast chargers are capable of charging 400V models in 20 minutes and 800V models in 12 minutes from 10% to 80%. With this in mind, NIO has built more than 13.3 thousand charging piles – making it the automobile brand with the most charging piles in China. Despite this, NIO has plans to build more than 1700 battery swap stations and more than 20 thousand power chargers in China which could allow the company to attract more customers for its EVs. In light of this, many investors are bullish NIO stock forecast could be the brightest it has ever been as the company continues developing its technologies.
With this in mind, NIO is working to make Power Swap Pilot for Highway available in the first half of 2023. When Navigate on Pilot is enabled, NIO’s EVs can automatically plan the route for battery swap, navigate to the power swap station, complete the battery swap and automatically drive out of the service area and back to the highway. Thanks to this technology, NIO could be well-positioned to witness an influx of new purchases which could propel the company to new records in deliveries and revenues in 2023.
Although NIO is a top EV manufacturer in China, the company is looking to grow its popularity throughout the world and is currently working to penetrate the European market. In 2021, NIO launched its EVs in Norway – marking its entry into the European market – where its vehicles were well-received. Based on this, NIO has been working to expand its presence in Europe and currently offers its vehicles in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. Looking to grow demand for its EVs, NIO intends to open new houses and spaces in 10 major European cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. In this way, NIO could be poised to receive a significant boost in its revenues in 2023 – making NIO stock one of the most attractive EV stocks to watch this year.
With an aim of securing a significant share in the European EV market, NIO has been working to introduce its battery charging network in Europe. These efforts started with NIO’s deal with oil giant Shell to expand charging and battery swap stations in Europe and China. According to this deal, both companies will work in tandem to build 100 sites in China and build pilot battery swap sites in Europe. On that note, NIO intends to build 120 swap stations in Europe by the end of 2023 of which the company has successfully built 17 or 18 in 2022. However, NIO expects to build 1000 swap stations outside of China by 2025 – most of which will be in Europe. As the company continues working to introduce its EVs around the world, NIO stock appears to be bullish for 2023 and beyond.
NIO Financials
Looking into NIO’s Q3 earnings, the company reported $13.6 billion in assets including $2.5 billion in cash. At the same time, NIO has $8.9 billion in liabilities – of which only $1.7 billion are long-term debt. As for its revenues, NIO reported $1.8 billion in Q3 and had a gross profit of $243.9 million. Meanwhile, operating costs were $787.9 million – leading the company to operate at a net loss of $577.8 million. As the company’s supply chain situation could be significantly improved in 2023, NIO could be on track to deliver better results in the future.
Technical Analysis
NIO stock is currently trading at $11.81 and has supports near 10.99, 9.52, and 8.38. Meanwhile, the stock shows resistances near 12.06, 13.43, and 17. Already up nearly 23% YTD, many investors are bullish NIO stock could be one of the best EV stocks to hold this year as the company appears to be poised for significant growth in deliveries and revenues. With the stock recently breaking through its 200 MA, NIO could be set to reach the $12 which appears to be a strong resistance. With this in mind, investors could watch for retests of the 200 MA before entering a position to confirm the trend. If the stock successfully retests the 200 MA support, this could be a good entry point as NIO could be poised to rebound near $20 if it continues reporting growing deliveries in 2023.
Since the beginning of the year, accumulation is trending upwards thanks to investors bullish on NIO stock forecast for 2023. Meanwhile, the MACD recently turned bullish following a crossover. The RSI climbed from 56 to 67 indicating that NIO could be slightly overbought at the moment. Considering the company’s growth potential in 2023 thanks to its plans in Europe and its new EVs, NIO stock could be one of the best EV stocks to hold this year. NIO has an OS of 1.6 billion and a float of 1.3 billion.
NIO Forecast
As the supply chain issues appear to be on track to be resolved, NIO appears to be at the forefront of EV manufacturers to take advantage of these improvements. With the company planning to launch 5 new EVs in the first half of 2023, NIO could be well-positioned to report record deliveries again after its impressive results in 2022. With this in mind, these upcoming launches could further aid the company in its European growth efforts. Since NIO is already working on opening new houses and introducing its unique charging network in Europe, NIO stock forecast appears to be bullish for 2023. Considering the impressive technologies and capabilities of NIO’s EVs, NIO stock could be well-positioned to rebound in 2023.
