NIO achieves its first profit in 11 years, with an operating profit of 1.25 billion yuan in Q4 2025.

On March 10, NIO released its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial reports. In Q4, it achieved an operating profit of 1.25 billion yuan, marking the company’s first quarterly profit. Cash reserves at the end of Q4 totaled 45.9 billion yuan, a significant increase of nearly 10 billion yuan quarter-over-quarter. The delivery guidance for Q1 2026 is 80,000 to 83,000 units, 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.

NIO delivered 124,807 vehicles in Q4, a 71.7% increase year-over-year and a 43.3% increase quarter-over-quarter, setting a new record. Revenue in Q4 was 34.65 billion yuan, up 75.9% year-over-year and 59.0% quarter-over-quarter, also a record high. Gross profit in Q4 reached 6.07 billion yuan, up 163.1% year-over-year and 100.8% quarter-over-quarter, hitting a new high. The comprehensive gross margin was 17.5%, up 5.8 percentage points year-over-year and 3.6 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, the highest since 2022. Vehicle gross margin was 18.1%, up 5.0 percentage points year-over-year and 3.4 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, marking a three-year high and significantly improving profitability in vehicle sales. 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. Service and community business contributions continued steady growth.

For the full year 2025, NIO delivered a total of 326,028 new vehicles, a 46.9% increase year-over-year, setting a new record. Full-year revenue was 87.49 billion yuan, up 33.1% year-over-year, also a record high. Gross profit for the year was 11.92 billion yuan, an 83.5% increase, reaching a new high. The full-year comprehensive gross margin was 13.6%, up 3.7 percentage points year-over-year, the highest since 2022. Vehicle gross margin for the year was 14.6%, up 2.3 percentage points, also a new high since 2022.

The delivery guidance for Q1 2026 remains 80,000 to 83,000 units, with revenue guidance of 24.48 billion to 25.18 billion yuan, representing a year-over-year increase of 103.4% to 109.2%.

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. It also reflects the continuous improvement of NIO’s systemic capabilities and operational efficiency, laying a solid foundation for the company’s long-term sustainable development. The company has officially entered its third stage of development, beginning a new cycle of rapid growth.

Key points from the earnings report:

On Channel Layout

Li Bin: NIO, Leado, and Firefly will deepen their focus on key markets this year, while jointly expanding into lower-tier markets. Through the SKY stores operated by the three brands, we will efficiently cover more prefecture-level cities with a high-quality sales and service network.

On Market Outlook

Li Bin: The first quarter of this year will be challenging for the Chinese passenger car market, with slight declines compared to last year. However, pure electric vehicle growth remains very strong, driven entirely by new energy vehicles last year. This year, pure electric models will continue to grow rapidly.

The large three-row and five-seat SUV markets are experiencing a golden era for pure electric vehicles. Since September 2025, pure electric large three-row SUVs have led all energy types in sales for five consecutive months. In the second half of 2025, sales of pure electric large three-row SUVs increased by over 350% year-over-year, while extended-range models declined by 6%. NIO’s current product cadence aligns with market trends, and we are very confident in overall growth this year.

NIO plans to develop three new models this year: the flagship ES9 tech executive SUV will launch in Q2; a new five-seat SUV based on the all-new ES8 platform will launch in Q3; and the Leado L80 will also debut in Q2. Coupled with the Leado L90 and the popular all-new ES8, these five large and mid-sized SUVs will lay a strong foundation for annual sales growth.

We are confident in achieving 40% to 50% sales growth this year. Despite January and February being industry off-season months, we still maintained significant year-over-year growth, with Q1 delivery guidance exceeding 90% YoY.

On 2026 Performance Outlook

NIO CFO Qu YU: The vehicle gross margin in Q1 2026 is expected to remain at the level of Q4 2025. Despite seasonal and policy impacts, the stock orders for ES8 and post-Chinese New Year order recovery are good, with ES8 deliveries accounting for a high proportion of total Q1 deliveries.

In 2026, the company will maintain quarterly R&D investments of 2 to 2.5 billion yuan, continuing to improve R&D efficiency based on the CBU operating mechanism, avoiding ineffective spending, and increasing R&D output under the same investment. Additionally, R&D pace and investment will be dynamically adjusted according to operational performance and ROI mechanisms to ensure key product and core technology investments, enhancing long-term competitiveness.

With five large SUVs on sale this year and strong gross margins for large vehicles (ES8 gross margin exceeded 20% in Q4 2025, approaching 25%), NIO aims to achieve full-year Non-GAAP profitability in 2026.

Li Bin: In 2025, service and community business revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan, achieving profitability. We expect the profitability of service and community businesses to continue improving in 2026, even with the addition of 1,000 battery swap stations.

On Technological Development

Li Bin: The second advanced intelligent chip from Shenji has successfully completed tape-out and is currently in mass production. The second chip will use automotive-grade 5nm process technology, with one chip equivalent to three, offering high cost-performance. It has broad applications in fields like humanoid robots and others. Many industry clients are already conducting preliminary testing and engagement.

We are pleased to see more automakers participating in the construction of charging and swapping networks. Automotive companies’ involvement in building charging and swapping infrastructure will significantly promote the penetration of pure electric vehicles and accelerate the transition from gasoline, extended-range, and plug-in hybrid vehicles to pure electric.

(Author: Zheng Zhiwen, Editors: Wu Xiaoyu, Zhu Yimin, Video editing: Wang Xuequan)