Stock Market Today, April 1: Nio Shares Jump After March Deliveries Surge 136% Year Over Year

Nio (NIO +2.74%) designs and sells electric vehicles, including sedans and SUVs. The stock closed at $6.20, up 2.82%. Shares moved higher after the company reported sharply higher March and first-quarter delivery volumes, and investors are watching how its three-brand strategy sustains that growth against Chinese EV rivals. Trading volume reached 52.7 million shares, coming in nearly 12% above its three-month average of 47.2 million shares. Nio IPO’d in 2018 and has fallen 6% since going public.

How the markets moved today

S&P 500 rose 0.71% to 6,575, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.16% to finish at 21,841. Among its automotive peers, Tesla closed at $381.26, up 2.56%, and Li Auto ended at $18.38, up 3.08%, as investors responded to robust Chinese EV delivery trends.

What this means for investors

Nio delivered an impressive update this morning, announcing that March deliveries totaled 35,468 vehicles, up 136% year over year. Similarly, total deliveries for the first quarter of 2026 rose 98%. After Nio reported its first-ever quarterly profit in its Q4 earnings announced earlier in March this year, this stellar delivery growth is all the more interesting.

The company’s premium NIO brand grew sales by 120% in March compared to last year, which should help maintain this improving margin profile. Meanwhile, its new entry-level Firefly brand delivered 6,119 vehicles, up 130% month over month, highlighting the company’s ability to attract customers across the pricing spectrum. Nio is interesting at just 1.2 times sales, but the competitive EV industry scares me away.