Nio missed Wall Street's revenue estimates and widened its net loss to RMB 6.06 billion in the second quarter, but gave a third-quarter outlook that beat expectations.

Nio reported revenue from vehicle sales of RMB 7.19 billion in the second quarter, down 24.9 percent from the same period last year and down 22.1 percent from the first quarter.

The decrease in revenue from vehicle sales from the second quarter of 2022 was mainly due to a higher proportion of deliveries of ET5 and 75kWh standard range battery packs, resulting in a lower average selling price as well as fewer deliveries, Nio said.

The decrease from the first quarter was mainly due to a decline in deliveries, the company said.

Nio's cost of sales in the second quarter decreased 3.0 percent year-on-year to RMB 8.68 billion and down 17.4 percent from the first quarter.

The year-on-year decrease in cost of sales was mainly due to lower battery cost per vehicle and lower delivery volume, partially offset by higher used vehicle sales, provision of power solutions and cost of sales of accessories.

Nio's gross margin was 1.0 percent in the second quarter, down from 13.0 percent in the same period last year and down from 1.5 percent in the first quarter.

The decrease in gross margin from the second quarter of 2022 was primarily due to lower vehicle margins, and the decrease from the first quarter was primarily due to higher used vehicle sales with lower gross margins, Nio said.

The company's second-quarter vehicle margin was 6.2 percent, down from 16.7 percent a year ago and an improvement from 5.1 percent in the first quarter.

Compared with the second quarter of 2022, the decrease in vehicle margin was primarily attributable to changes in product mix, partially offset by lower unit battery costs, Nio said.

Vehicle margin increased from the first quarter primarily due to lower promotional discounts on the previous generation ES8, ES6 and EC6, it said.

Nio reported a net loss of RMB 6.06 billion in the second quarter, up 119.6 percent year-on-year and up 27.8 percent from the first quarter.

Excluding equity incentive charges, non-GAAP adjusted net loss for the second quarter was RMB 5.45 billion, up 140.2 percent year-on-year and up 31.2 percent from the first quarter.

Its basic and diluted net loss per ADS for the second quarter were both RMB 3.70, compared to RMB 1.68 for the same period last year and RMB 2.91 for the first quarter.

Excluding share-based compensation expenses and accretion on redeemable non-controlling interests to redemption value, non-GAAP adjusted net loss per ADS, both basic and diluted, was RMB 3.28, compared to RMB 1.34 in the same period last year and RMB 2.51 in the first quarter.

Nio's research and development expenses were RMB 3.34 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 55.6 percent year-on-year and an increase of 8.7 percent from the first quarter.

Excluding equity incentive expenses, non-GAAP R&D expenses were RMB2.94 billion, an increase of 57.1 percent year-on-year and an increase of 8.5 percent from the first quarter.

The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to higher personnel costs in the research and development function, higher equity incentive fees recognized in the second quarter, and incremental design and development costs for new products and technologies.

As of June 30, Nio's cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and long-term time deposits balance was RMB 31.5 billion, a decrease of RMB 6.3 billion from RMB 37.8 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Nio guided third-quarter deliveries at 55,000 to 57,000 units, higher than Wall Street's estimate of 48,465 units, implying a year-on-year growth of about 74.0 percent to 80.3 percent.

The company guided third-quarter revenue to be between RMB 18.9 billion and RMB 19.52 billion, above market expectations of RMB 17.2 billion, implying year-on-year growth of about 45.3 percent to 50.1 percent.

Considering Nio delivered 20,462 vehicles in July, the guidance means it expects to deliver a cumulative 34,538 to 38,538 vehicles in August and September.

China EV insurance registrations for week ending Aug 27: Tesla 17,000, Li Auto 7,700, Nio 5,000