The highly anticipated NIO (NIO) day starts tomorrow on January 9th, this day is exciting for investors because this is when the company gets to unveil new EV line ups and new technologies to the public. This will in fact be a major milestone for the company and I expect the stock price to continue rising.
Here’s everything you need to know about NIO day:
- ET7 Sedan – This new vehicle is NIO’s first sedan to be released and is expected to compete with Tesla Model 3, BYD Han EV and Xpeng P7.
- 150kWh Battery Pack – This new pack will likely give Nio’s vehicle a range of over 900km, suggesting more mileage from a single battery than what fuel-efficient Japanese vehicles can squeeze from a tank of gas.
- New autonomous driving platform – The company will unveil an NT2.0 autonomous driving platform and also a second-generation battery swap station, Lihong said. Lihong also reportedly said Nio will shed light on its LIDAR plans, and that its solutions will be more powerful than the offerings contemplated by its peers in the industry.
NIO’s 2021 plans
Nio is planning to introduce its first sedan model and reveal more details on NP2 at its Nio Day scheduled for January 2021, the analyst said.
The NP2 is Nio’s next vehicle platform that’s expected to boast advanced autonomous driving features, he said.
The company is modeling vehicle gross margin of about 15%-20% over the long term, Hsun Lee said.
The company is open to adopting Lidar in the future, the analyst said.
Nio plans to expand point of sales, including Nio Houses and Nio Spaces, from 187 to 200 by the end of 2020, and add another 100 in 2021, he said.
The EV maker is planning to start building its second-generation battery swap stations in the second quarter of 2021, with 300 stations likely to be built in 2021, Hsun Lee said. The rapidly expanding battery swap network, according to the analyst, will further improve the Nio user experience.
Nio expressed confidence in defending its market share against traditional OEMs, which are planning a foray into the high-end EV market, as the company believes it takes a long time to build brand equity and consumer perception, according to BofA.
Price targets
With everyone seeming extremely bullish on the Tesla of China, here are some price targets big money expects NIO stock to reach:
- Goldman Sachs – Targets $59
- BofA Securities – Targets $54
- Daiwa – Targets $59
The price target I predict NIO reaching is $100 in 2021. NIO continues to improve and deliver. As long as they keep doing what they’re doing and operate with profit, then $100 per share is achievable.
Bottom line
Being long a monster winner that’s been on a huge run does put investors in a tough spot. On one hand, we don’t want to sell our winners short. On the other hand, we don’t want to give up a bulk of our gains either. Remember, stocks tend to take the escalator up and the elevator down.
If we wait for Nio to disappoint, bulls could easily see a painful haircut in the share price before they can react.
Unless bulls are looking a decade down the road, they may consider taking some profits, to at least lock in some gains.
Until then though, Nio still has a good story. The company’s biggest issue a year ago was delivering on its ambitions. Simply put, margins were negative, deliveries were slow and the balance sheet was weak.
