NIO's Q1 Revenue Reaches 25.533 Billion Yuan, a 112% YOY Increase; Gross Margin Rises to 19%

NIO Inc. released its unaudited financial report for the first quarter of 2026 on Thursday, with the company's total revenue reaching 25.533 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 112.2%, but a decrease of 26.3% from the previous quarter; vehicle deliveries reached 83,465 units, a year-on-year increase of 98.3%, and a decrease of 33.1% from the previous quarter.

The company is recovering from a significant loss in the same period last year, but it has not yet turned positive completely. In the first quarter, the net loss was 332 million yuan, a significant reduction from 6.75 billion yuan in the same period last year, but the company had realized a net profit of 283 million yuan in the previous quarter.

The stock price of NIO surged more than 5% before the US market opened after the release of the financial report.

Delivery volume drives revenue to double, second quarter delivery guidance is optimistic

The increase in deliveries in the first quarter is the direct reason for the year-on-year doubling of revenue. In this quarter, NIO delivered 83,465 vehicles, nearly double the 42,094 vehicles in the same period last year, including 58,543 vehicles for the NIO brand, 13,339 vehicles for the ONVO brand, and 11,583 vehicles for the FIREFLY brand.

However, looking at the quarterly rhythm, deliveries are not improving linearly. In the fourth quarter of 2025, NIO delivered 124,807 units; a sequential decrease of 33.1% in the first quarter is also the main reason for a 27.9% sequential decrease in vehicle sales.

NIO expects to deliver between 110,000 to 115,000 units in the second quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 52.7% to 59.6%; revenue is expected to be between 32.777 billion to 34.436 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.4% to 81.2%.

Gross Margin Continues to Recover

NIO's vehicle sales in the first quarter were 22.784 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 129.2%, higher than the delivery growth rate. The company stated that the increase compared to last year was mainly due to the increase in delivery volume and higher average selling prices, which was supported by a more favorable product mix.

The gross margin is the most crucial improvement item in this financial report. In the first quarter, the company's comprehensive gross margin was 19.0%, the highest in four years, compared to 10.2% in the same period last year; the gross margin for vehicles was 18.8%, an increase for four consecutive quarters, also hitting the highest in four years. The gross margin for other sales was 20.6%.

Cost Reduction Supports Profit Improvement

The contraction on the cost side further improved the operating performance. In the first quarter, R&D expenses were 1.885 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 40.7%, sales, general and administrative expenses were 3.497 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.5%.

The company attributed the decrease in R&D expenses to a decrease in R&D personnel costs due to organizational optimization and a decrease in design and development costs due to different development stages and operational efficiency improvements. The reduction in sales and administration expenses was mainly due to the reduction in personnel and related costs in marketing and support functions, as well as a reduction in sales and marketing activities.

GAAP Still Shows Loss, Quality of Profit Needs Verification

NIO's operating loss in the first