First quarterly profit! NIO's 2025 revenue and delivery volume hit new highs. Li Bin: Ultra-fast charging and battery swapping modes do not have fundamental conflicts.

On the evening of March 10th, NIO released its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial reports. Data shows that in Q4 2025, NIO’s operating profit was 1.25 billion yuan, marking the company’s first quarterly profit; total revenue was approximately 34.65 billion yuan, up 75.9% year-over-year; cash reserves reached 45.9 billion yuan, a significant increase of nearly 10 billion yuan quarter-over-quarter.

NIO founder, Chairman, and CEO Li Bin stated that the quarterly profit fully confirms the core competitiveness of NIO’s technological route, products, and business model, and also reflects the continuous improvement of NIO’s systematic capabilities and operational efficiency, laying a solid foundation for the company’s long-term sustainable development. “The company has officially entered the third stage of development, beginning a new cycle of rapid growth,” Li Bin said.

Image source: NIO financial report

Looking ahead to Q1 2026, Li Bin provided delivery guidance of 80,000 to 83,000 vehicles during the earnings call, representing a year-over-year increase of 90.1% to 97.2%; revenue guidance is 24.48 billion to 25.18 billion yuan, up 103.4% to 109.2% year-over-year. After achieving quarterly profitability, Li Bin set his sights on “full-year profitability” for 2026.

“A reasonable profit is the foundation for NIO’s sustained development. The company must achieve this goal,” Li Bin emphasized.

Aiming for Full-Year Profitability in 2026

Alongside the quarterly profit, NIO’s total revenue, delivery volume, and gross profit in Q4 2025 all hit record highs. In Q4 2025, approximately 124,800 vehicles were delivered, a 71.7% increase year-over-year and a 43.3% increase quarter-over-quarter; gross profit totaled 6.07 billion yuan, up 163.1% year-over-year and 100.8% quarter-over-quarter.

Image source: NIO financial report

Thanks to the rapid growth in vehicle deliveries, NIO’s car sales revenue in Q4 2025 also saw substantial growth. The financial report shows that in Q4 2025, NIO’s vehicle sales revenue was about 31.606 billion yuan, an 80.9% increase from Q4 2024 and a 64.6% increase from Q3 2025. “The increase in vehicle sales revenue compared to Q4 2024 and Q3 2025 is mainly driven by higher delivery volumes and a favorable product mix leading to increased average selling prices,” NIO explained.

The report indicates that NIO’s gross margin for Q4 2025 was 17.5%, up 5.8 percentage points year-over-year and 3.6 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, reaching a new high since 2022. The vehicle gross margin was 18.1%, up 5 percentage points year-over-year and 3.4 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, also a three-year high, significantly improving the profitability of vehicle operations. Other sales gross margin was 11.9%, up 10.8 percentage points year-over-year and 4.1 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, with other sales businesses remaining profitable for three consecutive quarters, and services and community business contributing steady growth. “This is mainly due to the substantial increase in sales and revenue, product structure optimization, and cost reduction and efficiency measures,” said NIO CFO Qu Yuxi.

Data shows that NIO delivered a total of 326,028 new vehicles in 2025, a 46.9% increase year-over-year, setting a new record; annual revenue reached 87.49 billion yuan, up 33.1%, also a record high; total gross profit for the year was 11.92 billion yuan, an 83.5% increase, hitting a new high.

Regarding the gross margin forecast for vehicles in Q1 2026, Qu Yuxi stated it could maintain the level of Q4 2025. Despite seasonal and policy influences, the stock orders for ES8 and the recovery of orders after the Spring Festival are promising, with their delivery volumes accounting for a significant portion of the overall Q1 deliveries.

Qu Yuxi also revealed that, based on the company’s five large SUVs on sale this year and the strong gross margin performance of large vehicles (ES8 gross margin exceeded 20% in Q4 2025, approaching 25%), NIO aims to achieve non-GAAP full-year profitability in 2026. He added that in 2026, NIO will continue to improve operational efficiency, promote cost optimization, and deliver more stable business performance to benefit users, partners, and shareholders.

Confident in 40% to 50% Sales Growth in 2026

Li Bin divided NIO’s development into three stages: the first from 2018, when the first vehicle was delivered, to 2021, a period of rapid growth; despite a crisis in 2019, annual growth remained at 100%. The second stage spans 2022 to mid-2025, with sales below expectations but still maintaining an annual growth rate of over 30%. The third stage began in late 2025.

Regarding 2025, Li Bin believes that the three major brands (NIO, Leado, and Firefly) have achieved high recognition for their product competitiveness in their respective market segments. Meanwhile, the company’s self-developed core technologies for intelligent electric vehicles have gradually achieved mass production, enhancing product competitiveness and delivering significant technological cost reductions. “In 2026, we will resolutely and continuously invest in twelve core technology stacks, launch new models, improve the energy business operation capacity of our charging and swapping network, and continue to optimize and upgrade our sales and service network,” Li Bin said.

According to Li Bin, in 2026, NIO will launch three new vehicles: the flagship tech executive SUV ES9, Leado L80, both scheduled for Q2 release; and a five-seat SUV based on the new ES8 platform, scheduled for Q3. “With the addition of Leado L90 and the newly popular ES8, these five large and extra-large SUVs will lay a solid foundation for the full-year sales growth,” Li Bin stated. He expressed strong confidence that the company’s current product cadence aligns with market trends and expects 40% to 50% growth in annual sales.

Li Bin also revealed that this year, NIO, Leado, and Firefly will deepen their focus on key markets while jointly expanding into lower-tier markets through SKY stores operated by the three brands, providing efficient sales and service networks in more prefecture-level cities. By 2026, NIO plans to establish more stores in 210 prefecture-level cities, focusing on Hubei, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi provinces, as there remains significant growth potential compared to BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz.

Super Fast Charging and Battery Swap Modes Are Not Fundamentally Contradictory

Regarding charging and swapping networks, NIO has currently deployed 3,815 battery swap stations worldwide, with over 28,000 supercharging and destination charging piles. NIO aims to surpass 10,000 charging and swapping stations by 2030. “The battery swap network is an innovative system solution to address different vehicle power needs, and as an energy storage facility, it is also becoming an important part of the new power system,” Li Bin said. He believes that long-term, continued deployment of the swap network will enhance the electric vehicle user experience and provide the company with a unique and hard-to-duplicate competitive advantage.

Recently, BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu announced the second-generation Blade Battery and Flash Charging technology. Supported by Flash Charging, vehicles can be “charged in 5 minutes, fully charged in 9 minutes, and only an additional 3 minutes at -30°C.” After the technology was released, it sparked discussions about the rivalry between BYD’s Flash Charging and NIO’s battery swap stations.

During the earnings call, Li Bin addressed the relationship between ultra-fast charging and battery swapping, stating that there is no fundamental contradiction between the two, but rather they serve different energy replenishment scenarios. “NIO is pleased to see more automakers participate in building charging and swapping networks. Flash Charging and battery swapping will together accelerate the transition from fuel vehicles, range extenders, and plug-in hybrids to pure electric vehicles,” Li Bin emphasized.

Additionally, Li Bin disclosed that in 2025, NIO’s service and community business revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan, achieving profitability. He expects the profitability of NIO’s service and community business to continue improving in 2026, and even with the investment of an additional 1,000 swapping stations, this goal remains achievable.

(Source: Daily Economic News)