Citi remains bullish on Nio following call with management

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Citi Research reiterated a Buy rating on Nio (NYSE:NIO), with a target price of $23.30 after hosting a business update call with the electric vehicle maker on January 9th. During the call, management showed confidence that sales would double YoY in 2023 with the release of 5 new models, guiding 1H23 estimated sales to 80-90k units and 2H23 estimates sales to 150k-160k units.

Nio management expects NEV sales in China to increase +30% YoY in 2023. Along with the 5 new models planned for release, Nio is expecting a potential cost decrease of raw material, while the downside includes the negative impact from COVID that seems to be easing gradually. NEV industry headwinds in January include NEV subsidy cuts, a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) price cut, and COVID impact. Management expects NEV sales to gradually recover after CNY holidays and return to normal in March and May as the COVID impact mitigates and the weather gets warmer.

Shares of NIO are up 0.37% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.