Nio Stock Skyrockets 31% in August, Soars Over 75% in Just Two Months

Nio's electric surge shocks Wall Street as traditional automakers scramble to keep pace.

The Numbers Don't Lie

August's 31% climb wasn't just a fluke—it capped a stunning 75% two-month rally that left analysts scrambling to update their price targets. The Chinese EV maker's relentless momentum defied broader market jitters about auto sector valuations.

Behind the Charge

Battery-swap technology breakthroughs and expanding European footholds fueled investor frenzy. Nio's ecosystem approach—vehicles, charging infrastructure, and energy solutions—created a narrative that traditional valuation models struggle to contain.

Wall Street's Dilemma

While fundamentals-focused analysts fret about cash burn rates, momentum traders keep pushing the envelope. The stock's performance highlights how legacy auto valuation metrics increasingly miss the mark in the electric age—but then again, Wall Street never met a bubble it didn't like until it popped.

Image source: Getty Images.

On July 31, Nio launched its sub-brand Onvo's flagship L90 SUV in China with a starting price of $36,940 including a battery pack. The price for customers opting for Nio's battery-as-a-service (BaaS) plan is significantly lower at under $25,000. BaaS is among Nio's biggest competitive advantages as customers can buy cars without batteries at significantly lower prices and opt to rent batteries instead on the go.

On Aug. 21, Nio stunned the markets again by announcing equally aggressive pricing for its all-new ES8, its namesake brand's flagship SUV.

The next-generation ES8 pricing starts from just about $50,000, which costs 25% less than the previous ES8 version despite larger dimensions and more features. With BaaS, the price further comes down to only about $43,000.

With the two strong back-to-back debuts, Nio stock surged 90% in less than two months between July and August on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Optimism rapidly carried over to the U.S., sending Nio shares higher on the New York Stock Exchange.

In between the two launches, Nio also began deliveries of its other sub-brand, Firefly, in Europe with plans to enter six European countries by the end of the year.

Where is Nio stock headed from here?

For a car manufacturer launching cars at competitively low prices, the paramount challenge is to balance pricing and profitability.

At a media briefing held after the ES8 debut as reported by CnEVPost, Nio founder and CEO William Li explained the low pricing and admitted that it's a game of survival for the EV maker now amid the competition. However, Li said that the ES8 can still generate a gross profit at its current price point because of lower production costs.

Onvo also appears to be doing its job. Nio delivered a record 31,305 EVs in August, with Onvo alone accounting for 52% of its volumes. The Nio brand made up 33% of sales volumes and Firefly the remaining.

Nio total vehicle sales jumped 62% sequentially in its second quarter that ended June 30, 2025, while its revenue surged 60% to over $2.6 billion. Its net loss dropped 26% sequentially to around $697 million.

With Nio projecting Q3 deliveries to be even higher and setting the pace for a record year, the EV stock could run even higher.