Li Auto is pulling away from its Chinese EV start-up competitors. It’s delivered more than 20,000 units a month for three consecutive months.
Courtesy of Li AutoEarly EV delivery data from China for May show growth. That’s what investors need and results from NIO, XPeng and Li Auto should be enough to keep stocks stable in Thursday trading.
For May, NIO (ticker: NIO) delivered 6,155 all-electric vehicles. XPeng (XPEV) delivered 7,506 units. Li Auto (LI) blew those two out of the water, delivering 28,277 cars. It’s the third consecutive month Li has topped 20,000.
Combined, the three delivered 41,938 units, up from 39,418 delivered in April and up about 46% with the 28,645 delivered in May 2022.
Taken together, May numbers are fine. Investors should be happy with sequential and year over year growth. Overall, results are in line with expectations. In May, Li management said they expected to deliver about 78,500 vehicles in the second quarter. It’s delivered 53,958 in April and May leaving roughly 25,000 units for June. Also in May, XPeng management said they expected to deliver about 21,500 units in the second quarter. XPeng has delivered 14,585 cars in April and May leaving about 7,000 for June to hit guidance.
NIO hasn’t reported first quarter numbers yet, so it hasn’t given second quarter delivery guidance. NIO’s numbers come next week.
Numbers required in June for Li and XPeng to hit guidance seem reasonable and the stock’s down, but stable, in premarket trading. Li shares are down 0.7%. XPeng stock is off 0.4%. NIO shares have dipped 2%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures are up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
Deliveries from the three EV players are an early read on Chinese EV demand. Year to date, the three have delivered about 183,000 units, up about 30% year over year. Growth in the world’s largest market for new cars and new EVs is what investors expect.
Tesla (TSLA), of course, is the world’s largest seller of EVs and a significant player in China. Its stock is down 0.7% in premarket trading. That’s similar to the move in the Chinese EV stocks.
As always there is more than one thing impacting Tesla stock. Reuters reported Wednesday that Tesla is discounting already-built cars on its website to move inventory. Investors don’t like seeing Tesla prices coming down.
And coming into Thursday trading, Tesla stock has gained about 12% over the past five trading days. The Nasdaq is up roughly 4% over that span. Tesla stock might be giving back some of that gain.
Year to date, Tesla stock is up about 66%. Li stock is up about 42%. XPeng and NIO shares are down about 23% and 21%, respectively. Myriad factors ranging from deliveries to rising interest rates to the staring points for each stock are responsible for the relative gains.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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