NIO day event's key highlight was its power replenishment technology — Morgan Stanley

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By Sam Boughedda

Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note to clients Tuesday that at its NIO Day Event on December 24, Nio's (NYSE:NIO) next-generation power replenishment technology was the "key spotlight of the day."

At the event, the Chinese electric vehicle firm officially unveiled its EC7 and ES8 models.

"We received updates on new models (ES8/EC7), third-generation battery swap stations and NIO phones on course for 1H23 launch during NIO Day. However, given that not all of the initiatives will hit the market until 2Q23, volume delivery is likely to be the key driver into the low season," the analysts, who have an Overweight rating on the stock, wrote.

"NIO unveiled the coupe SUV EC7 and the brand new ES8 during the event. Both models are built on NIO's second-generation platform with the latest electric drive system (480kW dual motor AWD system and SiC power module), AQUILA autonomous driving hardware (1,016 TOPs of computing power + 33 sensing units) and second-generation digital cockpit the same as ES7 and ET7," they explained. "Pre-orders for EC7 and all-new ES8 started immediately with Rmb5k deposit for Rmb10k deduction. NIO plans to kick off delivery of EC7 in May 2023 and new ES8 in June 2023."

In addition, on Tuesday, NIO announced a cut to its fourth-quarter guidance due to the rise in Covid cases in China.

Morgan Stanley argued that following the cut announcement and NIO day event, investors are likely to refocus on the company's order intake/delivery, "particularly ET5, and further updates on ET5 station wagon that would lend impetus to volume growth."

NIO shares are down more than 8% at the time of writing.