Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto had an OK number of deliveries for April—good enough for right now—but not good enough for the long haul. And that’s why investors are skittish about production levels as the global chip shortage drags on.
Li Auto (ticker: LI) delivered 5,539 Li ONE SUVs last month, up about 111% year over year. But the year-over-year increase doesn’t matter that much because Li, along with its Chinese EVs peers, is a high-growth company. What’s a bigger deal are the month-to -month sequential changes.
Li delivered 4,900 ONE SUVs in March, so more autos did come off the assembly line in April, The company’s best delivery month was December, when more than 6,100 vehicles went out the door.
The company’s stock hit its 2021 peak—$37.65— in mid-January, a few weeks after the December figure came out. Shares were up almost 2%, to roughly $20, in early trading Monday.
This year has been a tough one, so far, Li stockholders. Shares are down roughly 30% year to date. Higher interest rates, more EV competition in China as well as stagnating deliveries are all reasons for weaker investor sentiment.
But deliveries across the industry are being tamped down by the semiconductor shortage. Last week, Ford Motor (F) estimated it will lose 50% of its planned second-quarter production because of a lack of chips. Ford expects to lose billions in 2021 operating profit because of having to slash deliveries.
Like Li, deliveries are bobbing at rivals NIO (NIO) and XPeng (XPEV). All three Chinese EV makers reported their delivery numbers over the weekend.
And like Li stock, both NIO and XPeng shares are down year to date. They, too, were up Monday as investors digested the delivery data.
Li investors will have a chance to hear more about the outlook for deliveries when Li reports first-quarter results later in May.
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