Sep 1, 2026 earnings call — Delivery growth, solid margins and positive cash flow
NIO delivered 107,658 smart EVs in Q2, a year-over-year increase of 49.4%.
Revenue $4.7B (est $4.8B) · EPS $-0.04 (est $-0.07)
Key quotes
"In Q2, the company delivered a total of 107,658 smart EVs, achieving year-over-year growth of 49.4%."
"On the financial side, in Q2, the company's gross margin stood at 18.4%, driven by continued strong performance from the higher-margin products and ongoing cost optimization despite pressure from sharply rising raw material and chip costs."
"At present, the company has 4,123 power swap stations and 30,294 power chargers and destination chargers worldwide."
Analyst Q&A 7
ES8 and ES9 demand and competition
Q (Bin Wang · Deutsche Bank): The analyst asked if order flow for ES8 and ES9 will be sustainable and how NIO differentiates versus rivals in the premium SUV market.
A: Management said demand is strong for both models. ES8 delivered about 10,099 units in August and has exceeded 150,000 deliveries since launch. They cited product iteration, technology leadership, charging/swapping and aftersales services, and brand strength as reasons for continued demand.
"For the ES8 in August, we delivered around 10,099 units." — Bin Li
ONVO sales progress and next-year products
Q (Tim Hsiao · Morgan Stanley): The analyst asked why ONVO's customer conversion and order momentum have been moderate and what changes management will make to improve orders. He also asked about next year's model refresh and launch milestones for NIO, ONVO and FIREFLY.
A: Management said ONVO faces tougher competition but has made progress, achieving an average selling price of RMB 240,000 and good conversion from leads to orders. Actions include increasing brand awareness through collaborations and Sky stores, expanding into lower-tier cities, and introducing new ONVO products while keeping premium family positioning. For next year, NIO will add products from the 5 and 6 series, ONVO will introduce a major strategic new product, and FIREFLY will keep a single-model strategy with special editions and tech upgrades.
"Right now, our focus is also to enlarge the brand awareness and also the popularity through also different collaborations, offline activities and also engagement with more targeted communities." — Bin Li
Vehicle gross margin and sustainability
Q (Paul Gong · UBS): The analyst asked how rising memory and material costs will affect vehicle gross margin over the next two quarters, and what gives management confidence that profit improvements are sustainable.
A: Stanley Qu said material cost pressure raised average cost by around RMB 14,000 per car and expects another RMB 2,000 to RMB 3,000 increase, but the company stabilized vehicle margin at 18.5% in Q2 and aims to hold that in Q3 and Q4. Bin Li said sustainability rests on brand-driven demand, with ES8 and ES9 each having over 20% vehicle margin, ongoing cost optimizations with suppliers, and internal R&D/supply-chain analysis; he also noted strong year-to-date growth: sales +67% Y/Y, revenue +86% Y/Y, gross profit +282% Y/Y.
"With all these efforts combined, we managed to stabilize our vehicle margin at 18.5% in Q2." — Stanley Qu (CFO)
Cash use, CapEx, and ADAS monetization
Q (Y.C. Lai · JPMorgan): The analyst asked about cash burn including CapEx and R&D, free cash flow outlook by year-end, and where cash will be spent. He also asked how NIO differentiates its ADAS and whether pay-as-you-go or subscription options will be used.
A: Stanley Qu said full-year CapEx is expected roughly RMB 6 billion to RMB 7 billion, mainly for product R&D and sales/service network, not much for capacity. He said they plan 1,000 new power swap stations this year funded by partners and expect positive free cash flow in Q3 and Q4. Bin Li said ADAS benefits from NIO WorldModel and collective learning, the latest WorldModel was pushed to over 700,000 users, Cedar users engage ADAS on around 58% of trips, new users get 5-year complimentary smart driving, used-car users pay RMB 380 per month with ~20% penetration, and this service already generates annual revenue of several thousands of millions RMB.
"For the Cedar user, that's our third-generation platform equipped with NX9031 smart driving chip, where among these group of users, around 58% of them have been engaging smart driving functionalities for more than half of their trips." — Bin Li
5th-gen swap station cost and opex guidance
Q (Ming-Hsun Lee · BofA): The analyst asked CapEx per fifth-generation swap station and maintenance cost versus previous generation, pricing for other OEMs using the swap service, and why Q2 sales and marketing expense rose and guidance for 2026 operating expense.
A: Bin Li said the fifth-generation station is compatible across NIO, ONVO and FIREFLY and excluding batteries and HV power costs the station itself is around RMB 1.4 million, roughly RMB 100,000 cheaper than Gen 4. He said operations efficiency and first-time swap success have improved and partners will pay admission fees, with details to be finalized per project. Stanley Qu said R&D non-GAAP will be roughly RMB 2.5 billion per quarter, Q2 had a one-off ~RMB 500 million sales expense from new product launches, and SG&A is expected to be around 10% to 11% of sales in the second half under non-GAAP.
"if you only look at the station itself, it's around RMB 1.4 million per station." — Bin Li
Startup by Smart Driving head and cooperation
Q (Jing Chang · CICC): The analyst asked about long-term cooperation potential and value between NIO and the embodied AI start-up founded by Mr. Ren Shaoqing, and what value it brings to NIO.
A: Bin Li said NIO is a strategic shareholder and Mr. Ren remains head of the Smart Driving department. The arrangement lets NIO stay focused while tracking physical AI developments, helps attract top AI talent, and is expected to lead to many strategic collaborations and projects between NIO and the start-up.
"Yes, Mr. Ren Shaoqing, the Head of our Smart Driving Department is, now also starting up a new business regarding physical AI and also embodied intelligence and NIO is supporting his business as a strategic shareholder." — Bin Li
Volume outlook for Q4 and 2027
Q (Yuqian Ding · HSBC): The analyst asked for volume outlook for Q4 and for 2027 given seasonality and a new model cycle.
A: Management said they expect the passenger vehicle market to recover in Q4 and set a Q4 target of an average volume of over 40,000 units per month. For mid and long term, they expect annual volume growth of around 40% to 50% and plan to maintain that.
"Our target for Q4 is achieving an average volume of over 40,000 units per month." — Bin Li