China EV maker XPeng pops 10% despite posting wider than expected loss; deliveries expected to fall

Chinese electric carmaker XPeng posted a wider than expected loss and its revenue fell short of expectations — thanks to rising competition and a tougher macroeconomic environment.

XPeng shares were 10% higher in premarket trade in the United States.

Here’s how it did in the third quarter of 2022, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates: 

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• Revenue: 6.82 billion Chinese yuan ($960.9 million) versus 7.26 billion yuan expected. That represents a 19.3% year-on-year rise.
• Net loss: 2.38 billion Chinese yuan versus 2.09 billion yuan expected. That was wider than the 1.59 billion net loss posted in the same period last year, but narrower than the second quarter.

XPeng delivered 29,570 electric vehicles in the third quarter, 15% more than the same period last year. However, that was a 14% decrease from the second quarter of the year.

In October, XPeng delivered 5,101 vehicles, a sharp drop from the 8,468 cars delivered in September.

The Guangzhou-headquartered firm has faced several challenges in recent months, including widespread Covid lockdowns in China as the country battles outbreaks in various cities. Like other carmakers, XPeng has been dealing with rising material costs, which forced the company to hike the price of its cars earlier this year.

The company expects to deliver between 20,000 and 21,000 of its cars in the fourth quarter, representing a year-over-year decrease of approximately 49.7% to 52.1%.

XPeng shares have been hammered this year and are down 85% as investors turned away from Chinese growth stocks amid a slowdown in the economy and rising interest rates around the world.

A number of analysts have cut their target share price for the company. This week, Jefferies cut its target price on XPeng’s stock from $18.6 to $4.20.