China Economy Worries Weigh Down EV Stocks

Electric vehicles are headed to be the next big thing in the automotive industry. After Tesla paved the way, many car makers jumped on the trend and started their own EV production. That’s a sound move, especially when you consider the stock market.

Many believe Tesla to be significantly overvalued. Even Bill Gates has a now famous short position on the stock, triggering a bit of a feud with Elon Musk. A lot of Tesla’s value comes from user sentiment and the huge following of Musk himself.

However, with some prominent Tesla issues persevering and Musk’s popularity dropping, that may change. Most competition so far has been from well-established European vehicle manufacturers, such as Ford. However, China has also been active in the field, with three significant EV makers prepared to make an impact.

Li Auto, Xpeng, and Nio are three companies that are bound to shake up the EV market. All three have started production and are bound to take over some of Tesla’s market share. However, with a struggling economy and supply chain disruptions in China, they have recently been having difficulties.

Li Auto is undoubtedly in the worst position of the three, with its August deliveries being only 4,571. That shows a 56% drop after the previous month. The year-on-year results, which show a 51% decline, show the issue isn’t seasonality either. Strangely, its stock was least affected, closing 3% lower on Thursday and being 0.3% down on Friday premarket.

Xpeng, although its objective measures are better than Li Auto’s, experienced a steeper stock drop. Its August deliveries at 9,578 are under July’s by 16% but show a 33% year-on-year rise. Meanwhile, it lost 6% on Thursday and another 2% on premarket Friday.

Nio’s deliveries were up 6%, with year-on-year results growing 81.6%. However, it also saw a decline of 5% on Thursday and 0.6% in Friday premarket trading.