The stock market is open for trading on Monday, but it was apparent that many market participants were taking the day off. Stock index futures on most major market benchmarks were little changed in premarket trading Monday morning, with the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 2.02%) managing a slight gain.
Some of the most notable performers on Monday morning were electric vehicle (EV) stocks, as many key players in the industry reported their quarterly delivery and production figures for the period from April to June. Tesla (TSLA -1.11%) continued to build momentum in its ramp-up of capacity, but other companies like Nio (NIO 8.72%), Li Auto (LI 6.69%), and BYD also enjoyed solid gains. Read on to learn more about the competitive dynamics in the industry right now.
Tesla blows out another quarter
Shares of Tesla rose more than 6% in premarket trading Monday. The pioneering EV maker exceeded expectations with its latest production and delivery figures.
Tesla's second-quarter figures hit all-time records yet again. The company produced 479,700 electric vehicles during the quarter, the vast majority of which were Model 3 and Model Y mass-market EVs. Delivery figures were also strong, as Tesla got 466,140 vehicles into the hands of buyers during the three-month period.
As Tesla has grown, its growth rates have necessarily slowed. Despite being strong, the figures were up by just 38,900 units on the production side and 43,265 units on the delivery side. Nevertheless, it's clear that Tesla will be aiming for volumes of 2 million vehicles by the end of the calendar year, with totals halfway through the year about 45% of the way toward that goal.
Big gains throughout the EV industry
Good news was evident in many other EV stocks. Nio jumped 5% in premarket trading as the Chinese automaker delivered 10,707 vehicles during the month of June, closing the quarter with 23,520 deliveries. The launch of the ET5 touring EV in mid-June has started to contribute to overall performance for Nio, and investors expect further ramp-ups in the months ahead.
Li Auto gained 6% on similarly good news in its electric vehicle business. Li delivered 32,575 vehicles in June, which was the first month in which it had passed the 30,000 unit delivery mark. That was up 150% from the same month a year ago, and it closed a quarter in which Li delivered 86,533 vehicles, tripling last year's second quarter. Already, Li has delivered more vehicles in the first half of 2023 than it did throughout the entire year in 2022. By the fourth quarter, Li anticipates looking to surpass 40,000 deliveries per month, as it aims to take advantage of strong demand for electric vehicles in the Chinese market.
Lastly, BYD continued to cement its place as a leading EV producer from its vantage point in China. The company sold a record 251,685 new energy vehicles, which includes both hybrids and pure-electric vehicles, closing a quarter in which it delivered more than 700,000 EVs. That figure nearly doubled what BYD managed to do the same time last year.
All these numbers show that even though Tesla is a dominant player in North America when it comes to EVs, there's plenty of worldwide competition. With BYD still surpassing Tesla on volume, investors can count on its being a competitive threat over the long run. For now, investors are pleased that Tesla has enough demand at current price levels to support growing delivery figures, but if that changes due to macroeconomic pressures or other factors, then investors need to be prepared for further price cuts that could hurt margin performance.
