Warren Buffett’s Favourite EV Maker Reports Sales Triple

China EV and battery giant BYD Co. (BYDDF) continued its rapid ramp-up, with October sales more than tripling vs. a year earlier. Earlier in the week, Xpeng(XPEV) reported deliveries tripled vs. a year earlier. Nio (NIO) reported plunging sales on a production line shift while Li Auto (LI) sales doubled.

Xpeng stock has been flirting with a buy point as Li Auto stock carved a handle. Nio stock has rallied but is still trying to recover. BYD stock has rebounded back toward highs, out of buy range.

Tesla China's October sales, including exports, are expected to be published next week.

Despite the global semiconductor scarcity, China's EV sales nearly tripled in the third quarter, according to Fitch Ratings.

Tesla (TSLA) is facing competition from electric-car companies in China and, more recently, Europe, two of the fastest-growing EV markets.

How Nio, Li Auto, and Xpeng handle supply-chain concerns today, as well as their production predictions, will be crucial.

China EV Sales

Xpeng announced a 233 percent increase in October deliveries compared to a year ago, totaling 10,138 EVs, on Monday morning in China. For the second month in a row, Xpeng deliveries surpassed 10,000 for the first time, a little decrease from the 10,412 in September. 6,044 P7 cars were sold in October, rising 187 percent from the previous month. 3,657 G3 and G3i smart SUVs were also delivered by Xpeng. 437 P5 sedans were delivered. In September, a smaller automobile equipped with Lidar was introduced.

With its G3 SUV, Xpeng was the first to market in Norway. In that vital EV market, it has only recently begun selling its premium P7 car. Xpeng unveiled a flying automobile on Oct. 24 that it aims to mass-produce by 2024.

Nio deliveries declined 27.5 percent from a year ago to 3,667, a drop of 27.5 percent from the previous year's figure.

Nio deliveries plummeted 27.5 percent year over year to 3,667, down from 10,628 in September. Last month, a production line refurbishment curtailed output to around ten days. There were 218 ES8s and 2,528 ES6 SUVs delivered, with only 921 EC6 crossovers.

Nio, which was launched in November 2014, will launch its high-end ET7 car the following year. Nio began selling the ES8 SUV in Norway, its first export market, in September.

In October, Li Auto supplied 7,649 vehicles, jumping 107 percent from the previous year. This is up from 7,094 vehicles in September when the automaker was beset by chip shortages. Unlike its competitors, Li Auto only sells one vehicle: the hybrid-electric Li One SUV with a small gas engine to extend the range. However, it has vowed that more new electric vehicles will be released in the future, and it is also planning to enter the European market.

BYD also disclosed October sales early Wednesday. Sales of new energy vehicles increased by 212 percent year over year to 81,040. It's the fifth month in a row that NEV sales have risen by around 10,000 units. The number of electric vehicles sold in October increased to 41,232. The number of plug-in hybrids sold was 38,771.

The Chinese EV and battery behemoth, which has long been a holding of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, has begun selling electric vehicles in Norway, beginning with the Tang SUV. With its expanding manufacturing, BYD is significantly more likely than its startup competitors to boost shipments to Europe.

BYD's sales increased by 294 percent year over year in the third quarter. Despite strong electric vehicle sales, the Warren Buffett-backed company reported a 27.5 percent reduction in third-quarter net profits last week.

In the next few weeks, Xpeng, Nio, and Li Auto are expected to release their third-quarter results.

Tesla sales will most likely be revealed the following week, with the majority of October production heading to Europe.

Nio Stock, Chinese EV Stocks

In Wednesday's stock market trade, Nio's shares rose 0.5 percent to 41.50. For the second time in two weeks, Nio stock is testing its 200-day moving average line.

The stock of Xpeng fell 0.55 percent to 46.64. According to MarketSmith chart analysis, it has backed off a 48.08 bottoming-base buy point.

The stock of Li Auto dropped 0.7 percent to 30.96. In a bottoming base, shares have a handle buy point of 34.93, but that handle is moving lower.

On Wednesday, BYD's stock fell 0.7 percent. The stock increased 2% to 38.25 on Tuesday, closing above a buy range. On the back of a profit decline, it fell from record highs late last week.

Tesla surged 3.6 percent on Wednesday, hitting new highs and extending a 22.5 percent gain from the previous week.

China's regulators recently imposed new limits on data collection and management by electric vehicle companies, resulting in a crackdown on tech-driven businesses. Electric vehicles that are becoming increasingly "smart" will create a large amount of data.

With varying degrees of success, Chinese EV manufacturers are taking on Tesla in their native country and, increasingly, in Europe. Tesla CEO Elon Musk labeled his Chinese electric vehicle competitors "the most competitive in the world" in September.