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The Xpeng IPO is expected to price late Wednesday above earlier forecasts amid strong demand, while rival Chinese electric car stocks Nio (NIO)and Li Auto (LI) continue to surge.
Xpeng IPO
After the IPO prices, Xpeng Motors stock would start trading Thursday under the ticker XPEV.
The Guangzhou-based company now plans to offer 85 million American Depositary Shares at $15 each and raise $1.275 billion, sources told Reuters. That’s up from Xpeng’s prior view of pricing shares at $11-$13 and raising $1.1 billion.
It would become the third Chinese electric vehicle startup to go public in New York after Nio’s $1 billion IPO two years ago and Li Auto’s recent $1.1 billion IPO.
An IPO filing describes the company as producing two premium electric vehicles, the G3 SUV and the four-door P7 sports sedan. P7, which launched at the end of June, is a rival to the Tesla Model 3 in China. A third model is expected in 2021.
Xpeng also offers an optional autonomous driving system. It targets the mid- to high-end China electric car market, as do Chinese rivals Li Auto and Nio.
Founded in 2015, Xpeng is unprofitable and revenue dived 19% in the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit sales.
Electric Car Stocks Acting Bullishly
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were up 1% at 20244.20 in premarket trading on the stock market today, and the relative strength line for Tesla stock has bolted to all-time highs as a stock split looms.
Nio stock rallied 7% early Wednesday after surging 19% Tuesday to blow past a 15.55 buy point, as analysts at UBS upgraded shares to neutral, citing financial improvements.
Li Auto stock rose 2% to 18.61, eyeing a 20 buy point from an IPO base, after Goldman Sachs and Bernstein initiated coverage with buy ratings. Goldman analyst Fei Fang also put Li stock on the firm’s “conviction buy” list.
Meanwhile, electric car stocks have benefited both from Tesla’s surge this year and as governments and automakers promote emissionless technology.