China EV startup XPeng reported a much-smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss early Wednesday while the Tesla rival's sales more than doubled. The China EV stock rose solidly during the stock market, flashing a possible buy signal.
XPeng announced Wednesday a Q1 loss of 10 cents per share, better than the 20 cent per share loss a year ago, with revenue totaling $2.19 billion, soaring 142% from the $905 million in Q1 2024. Prior to Wednesday, analysts expected a Q1 loss of 21 cents with sales of $2.09 billion, according to FactSet.
For Q2, XPeng expects to deliver 102,000-108,000 vehicles, which would be about a 240% increase vs. Q2 2024.
In April, Tesla's Chinese rivals — including XPeng, BYD and Xiaomi — reported strong March and first-quarter deliveries.
XPeng delivered 33,205 in March, up 267.9% vs. a year earlier. First-quarter deliveries totaled a record 94,008, up 330.8% vs. Q1 2024, above the high end of its 91,000-93,000 target. Q1 sales topped Q4 deliveries, defying the seasonally slow period for nearly all other China EV makers.
Credit the XPeng P7+ sedan and especially the Mona M03 small sedan. The M03 is the first model from XPeng's more-affordable Mona brand.
New Models And The Earnings Call
XPeng is launching more EVs and pursuing a bigger overseas expansion. The company will unveil the G7 SUV in June.
Meanwhile, XPeng said Wednesday it will officially launch a new variant of the Mona M03 on May 28, describing it as the first AI smart coupe sedan for young people. Since XPeng launched the Mona M03 in the summer of 2024, the vehicle has become the company's bestselling model.
The new variant has XPeng's Turing AI assisted driving system. Advanced driver-assist software is becoming standard on even affordable China EVs, spurred by BYD's big "God's Eye" push earlier this year.
On the Q1 earnings call, XPeng executives said they are confident that sales will more than double in 2025 and that the company will turn a profit in the fourth quarter of this year, according to CnEVPost.
XPeng is also planning to launch both industrial and commercial humanoid robots in 2026, which will achieve industry-leading levels of intelligence, according to CnEVPost's rundown of the earnings call.
XPeng Stock Rises In Premarket Trading
XPEV shares jumped 13% to 22.27 during Wednesday's stock market action, moving above the 50-day line and breaking out above the May 12 high of 21.35, which investors could use as an early entry within a deep, two-month base.
XPeng stock declined 1.5% to 19.69 on Tuesday and entered Wednesday down 4.7% on the week, but up nearly 6% in May.
China EVs Coming For Tesla Dominance
While XPeng reported earnings Wednesday, there is more China EV news this week.
Xiaomi is poised to release its latest Model Y killer, with the launch of the YU7 crossover vehicle on Thursday. A top Tesla bull wrote Tuesday that this Xiaomi vehicle "explains why TSLA is moving away from 'car' and going all-in on autonomy.'"
Xiaomi will officially unveil the YU7 on Thursday, with local media claiming the model could potentially reshape China's competitive electric SUV market. Xiaomi EV is the China-based smartphone giant's electric vehicle unit and the YU7 will be the company's first EV SUV.
The new China EV model is expected to take on Tesla's popular Model Y. Xiaomi officially launched its first model, the SU7, on March 28, 2024, which targeted Tesla's other China EV, the Model 3.
Meanwhile, BYD launched the Seagull in Europe, where it will go by the name Dolphin Surf.
This Model Y Killer Is A Big Reason Why Tesla Is 'Moving Away' From EVs
"A year ago, when Xiaomi launched the SU7, many of our clients thought it looked like a Porsche, had better tech than a Tesla M3 and was priced like a used VW iD3," Morgan Stanley analysts Adam Jonas, a longtime Tesla bull, and Andy Meng wrote Tuesday. "With the YU7 small SUV, they may have done it again. It looks like a Ferrari Purosangue or Aston Martin DBX but will be priced like a VW or low-spec Model Y."
Jonas added that this Xiaomi vehicle "explains why TSLA is moving away from 'car' and going all-in on autonomy."
"The YU7 is just the latest sign that Chinese tech firms are taking EV performance and cost to the next level. China may have already won the EV battle. Who can win the autonomy war?" Jonas wrote Tuesday.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is focusing on the robotaxi service launch in June.
After meeting with Tesla last week, Jonas reported that this will likely be around 10 to 20 cars, on public roads and be invite only with plenty of tele-ops to ensure safety levels.
Tesla Robotaxi Launches In A Few Weeks. These Are The Details.
Musk, speaking with CNBC on Tuesday, said there will probably be 10 robotaxi Model Ys in the first week and there could be 1,000 in a "few months."
The Tesla chief did not give a specific date for the rollout but said it would come before end of June. He also confirmed there will be human supervisors of the autonomous trips and that the robotaxi service will be geofenced, meaning the entirety of Austin will not be available.
China EV Stocks
Xiaomi's U.S. shares edged down 1.6% to 34.55 Wednesday after popping 4.3% on Tuesday, clearing a 34.26 cup-with-handle buy point. On Monday, XIACY jumped 3.7% to 33.6.
BYD's U.S. shares gained 4.6% to 59.90 on Wednesday. BYD climbed 2.7% to 57.25, hitting a new high and exiting a buy zone, on Tuesday.
Li Auto rose 3% to 29.12, potentially eyeing an early entry above Friday's intraday high. Nio dropped 0.5% and is in a long downturn.
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock fell 2.6% to 334.81 during Wednesday's stock market. On Tuesday, TSLA rose 0.5% to 343.82 on Tuesday after hitting 354.99 intraday on Elon Musk comments.
"We've lost some sales perhaps on the left but we've gained them on the right," Musk said, referring to left-wing and ring-wing consumers. "The sales numbers at this point are strong and we see no problem with demand," Musk said in an interview Tuesday at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum in Abu Dhabi.
Musk cited TSLA stock as evidence that Tesla EV sales are doing well.
"Our stock wouldn't be trading near all-time highs if things weren't in good shape, they're fine, don't worry about it," Musk added.
Troy Teslike, whose delivery estimates and Tesla data tracking are highly respected among retail Tesla investors, posted to X on Wednesday that he expects Q2 vehicle deliveries between 350,000-395,000, or marking about a 11%-20% decrease vs. a year ago. For the full year, Teslike expects Tesla vehicle deliveries to decline more than 16%.
XPeng stock has a 21-day average true range of 4.31%. The ATR metric is available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool that gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq now in a power trend, investors can buy stocks with ATRs up to 8%, though they should be wary of being too concentrated in high-octane names.
XPeng stock has a 77 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Shares also have a 98 Relative Strength Rating and a 42 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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