Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) shares jumped by nearly 4% in the early session today after the Chinese EV maker reported a 39.2% year-over-year jump in its vehicle deliveries for March 2024.
Impressive Numbers
Li delivered 28,984 vehicles last month, bringing its total number of deliveries for the first quarter to 80,400. This points to an impressive 52.9% jump in the company’s first-quarter delivery numbers. With these gains, Li has become the first Chinese new energy automaker to hit a total of over 700,000 cumulative vehicle deliveries as of the end of March 2024.
Scaled-Back Expectations
Importantly, the delivery numbers surpassed Li’s updated outlook in March. Last month, the company had scaled back its delivery outlook for the first quarter owing to a lower-than-anticipated order intake. At the time, Li had lowered delivery expectations to a range of 76,000-78,000 vehicles from the prior outlook of 100,000-103,000 deliveries.
Strategy Reset
The scale-back in outlook was a result of the cutthroat competition in China’s EV space. Last month, Li noted that the company was shifting its focus from sales volume and competition to its core user group and target cities with higher purchasing power. The company plans to expand its reach to a wider user base and more cities once its initial strategy is firmly in place.
What Is the Forecast for LI Stock?
Today’s price gains come after a nearly 19% year-to-date decline in Li’s share price. Overall, the Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Li Auto, and the average LI price target of $53.83 points to a massive 77.77% potential upside in the stock.
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