What happened
Shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio (NIO 2.62%) opened sharply higher on Monday, amid a surprising rally for companies that have spent time as "meme stocks" over the last couple of years, but that have had rough rides recently.
As of 11:35 a.m. ET, Nio's American depositary shares were up about 15.5% from Friday's closing price.
So what
Nio was one of many stocks in the electric vehicle space moving sharply higher on Monday, possibly due to a relief rally after a tumultuous month that saw many once-popular names drop sharply.
Through the end of last week, Nio was down about 34% since the beginning of January.
Nio did share some minor good news over the weekend, though I don't think it had much to do with Monday's rally. The company said on Saturday that it has begun pilot production of its upcoming ET5 sedan. While ET5 deliveries won't begin until this fall, the company is building prototypes now, both to check its assembly line equipment and to provide vehicles for tests of real-world durability, among other things.
Nio began building pre-production ET5 sedans last week. Image source: Nio.
This shows that the company's development work on the ET5 is at an advanced stage, which in turn suggests that Nio is on track to begin deliveries in September.
Nio unveiled the ET5 in December; it's one of three new models the company expects to begin delivering before the end of 2022.
Now what
Electric vehicle investors can look forward to a detailed update on the ET5 and other upcoming new Nio products when the company reports its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings. While it hasn't yet announced a date for that report, the company's past practice suggests that we can expect it sometime in the second half of February.
