Chinese electric carmakers add $13.65 billion in value as Tesla surges

KEY POINTS

• U.S. listed Chinese electric carmakers Nio, Xpeng Motors and Li Auto, added a collective $13.65 billion of value on Tuesday as their stock prices surged.
• The Chinese start-ups, followed their American rival Tesla higher. Tesla shares surged nearly 20% on Wednesday amid a broader rally in technology stocks.
• The electric vehicle makers were also given a boost by a Reuters report that the three companies could carry out a secondary listing in Hong Kong as soon as this year.

A Nio ES6 electric vehicle is on display at an automotive experience area of Wanda Plaza on Nov. 28, 2020 in Beijing, China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Three U.S. listed Chinese electric carmakers added a collective $13.65 billion of value on Tuesday as their stock prices surged.

The Chinese start-ups — Nio, Xpeng Motors and Li Auto — followed their American rival Tesla higher.

Tesla shares surged nearly 20% on Wednesday as technology stocks on Wall Street rallied overnight.

On Tuesday, Nio closed 17.44% higher at $41.35, Li Auto was up 8.2% at $23.08 and Xpeng Motors rose 11.33% at $29.97.

The electric vehicle makers were also given a boost by a Reuters report that the three companies could carry out a secondary listing in Hong Kong as soon as this year. Secondary listings in Hong Kong have been a popular route for Chinese companies that are already listed on Wall Street.

Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng have had huge rallies so far. Nio is up over 1,000% in the last 12 months. Xpeng's share price has nearly doubled since its initial public offering in August.

All three automakers have also released their forecast for vehicle deliveries for the first quarter.

Nio said it expects to deliver 20,000 to 20,500 cars in the March quarter, higher than the December quarter. Xpeng meanwhile expects deliveries of 12,500 vehicles in the first quarter, down slightly from the fourth quarter. Li Auto said it would deliver between 10,500 and 11,500 cars in the first three months of 2021, lower than its fourth quarter deliveries. The first quarter involved the Chinese new year holiday.

In February, retail sales of so-called new energy passenger vehicles reached 97,000, an increase of 675% year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. In February 2020, almost the whole of China was effectively locked down to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, accounting for a low base. But the February 2021 figures were a decrease of 37.9% from January.