Why Nio Stock Surged 31% in August and Is Up Over 75% in Just 2 Months

Key Points

• Nio recently launched two cars at hugely competitive prices to gain market share.

• Its sub-brand Onvo made up 50% of Nio's total August deliveries.

• Nio expects record deliveries for 2025.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nio ›

It's been a heady couple of months for investors in Nio (NYSE: NIO). After a massive rally in July, shares of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker jumped another 31% in August, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The huge run-up means Nio stock is up a jaw-dropping 80% since July 1, as of this writing. The buzz around Nio stock centers on its recent car launches.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

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.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nio right now?

Before you buy stock in Nio, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nio wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,288!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,031,659!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,056% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.