2020 Li Auto electric vehicle deliveries

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Li Auto,

like its electric vehicle peers

NIO

and

You’re here,

has had a very solid finish all year round. China’s electric vehicle industry remains on fire until 2021.

Chinese SUV maker Li ONE delivered 6,126 vehicles in December. That is up to 4,646 in November and about 530% from December 2019, according to the company.

It can be a bit difficult to get a consensus delivery number for Li Auto (symbol: LI) and other Chinese EV producers. Most analysts are based in Asia and it is difficult to aggregate a consensus. Tesla (TSLA), for example, delivered more than 180,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, which was better than the estimated 176,000 analysts.

Still, Li’s number is very strong, even without a real analyst consensus for comparison. The company, on its third quarter conference call, said it plans to deliver 11,000 to 12,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter. The company ended up delivering 14,464 in the fourth quarter, easily exceeding its own initial projections.

NIO (NIO) delivered more than 7,000 vehicles in December. Combined with the results of Tesla and Li, it looks like Chinese demand for EVs remains very healthy.

XPeng

(XPEV), the other Chinese producer of electric vehicles listed in the United States, has yet to release December deliveries.

Calling the stock price to react to even good news can sometimes be difficult. Li’s stock fell after reporting November deliveries. Li also sold more shares to raise cash as the November deliveries were announced.

EV stocks are definitely in a bull market. Tesla grew by around 740% in 2020 and is now by far the most valuable automaker in the world. Li stock closed 2020 at $ 28.83, up sharply from the IPO price of $ 11.50 in July.

The gains make Li, and China’s EV industry as a whole, expensive. Barron’s recently wrote that VE’s Chinese stocks were too expensive for us. This article appeared in mid-December and VE’s Chinese stocks are trading on average where they were at the time.

Analysts, for the most part, disagree with Barron’s. More than 60% of analysts rate the three Chinese stocks of VE – NIO, Li and XPeng – Buy. The average purchase rating ratio for the shares of the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

is about 57%.

For Li, about 64% of analysts covering the company’s rate share Buy. The average analyst price target is around $ 37 a share.

Monday should be an interesting day. Investors must manage the recent price of Tesla’s Model Y in China. A Model Y is priced lower than an NIO EC6 and roughly the price of a Li ONE.

This could be of concern to investors, but the delivery numbers look good.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]