What happened
Shares of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NIO 2.15%) were falling today on several bits of news that are causing pessimism among investors.
An analyst cut his price target for Nio's stock today, just a few days after a new report said that China isn't rolling back its strict zero-COVID policy.
All of the news worried some investors, pushing the EV stock down 4.1% as of 10:57 a.m. ET.
So what
Deutsche Bank analyst Vincent Ha lowered the price target for Nio's shares today to $20 from the previous target of $39 and maintained a buy rating on the stock.
Investors typically don't like to see an analyst cut a stock's price target and investors may have reacted strongly to the analyst's move today as Nio is poised to release earnings results in just two days.
Investors may be especially pessimistic today after a Barron's report published over the weekend said that the Chinese government doesn't have immediate plans to scrap its COVID lockdowns that have resulted in Nio's factories periodically being shut down over the past two years.
China's zero-COVID policies have slowed down the country's economy and investors are worried that ongoing COVID-related restrictions could continue to curb growth.
Now what
Nio investors may also be extra cautious after the latest economic data published over the weekend showed that China's exports declined in October, significantly missing growth estimates for the month.
Nio has recently begun exporting some of its vehicles to Europe and investors aren't thrilled to see the country's exports slowing down.
Nio will report its third-quarter results before the opening bell on Nov. 10 and analysts are expecting the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) loss to narrow to $0.17 per share, an improvement from a loss of $0.28 in the year-ago quarter.
EV stocks have been especially volatile after the past year so investors may want to brace for more share price swings from Nio's stock in the near term.
