What happened
While Nio (NIO 3.49%) shares dropped nearly 20% over the past month, they have been staging a recovery this week. The stock rose again in early trading today, and remained up 5.75% as of 1:12 p.m. ET.
So what
The recent surge in the share price comes as the company's annual Nio Day event approaches, and it has also announced recent progress on its global expansion plans. In fact, the theme for Nio Day is "Hello World," implying the company will update investors further on its growth aspirations outside of China.
Nio has already started selling its ES8 SUV in Norway. Image source: Nio.
Now what
The growth in the electric vehicle sector is expected to be global, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) sees China and Europe as leading the secular trend. The agency believes global EV sales will be dominated by those two markets through 2030. And Nio seems to recognize that with its move into Norway earlier this year. The company plans to expand into Germany next year as well.
Nio recently announced a new strategic partnership with energy giant Royal Dutch Shell that will aid that expansion in Europe, as well as growth in its domestic Chinese market. Nio and Shell plan to construct and operate battery charging and swapping stations in both China and Europe. The companies will begin to install pilot stations in Europe next year, and will add 100 battery swapping stations in China by 2025. Nio offers a battery-as-a-service swapping option for customers that lowers the upfront cost of the vehicle, and provides Nio with ongoing subscription revenue.
The "Hello World" theme of the company's upcoming Nio Day presentation implies it will discuss its 2021 expansion into the Norway market, and likely also its plans to grow in Europe. That event will be held on Dec. 18, and investors seem to be taking advantage of the drop in share price in recent weeks to jump in leading up to that presentation.
