Xiaomi Corp. shares jumped the most since July after the Chinese electric vehicle maker reported strong orders for its newly launched SkyNomad sport utility vehicle series.
The stock rose as much as 9.2% in Hong Kong after the company said the model accumulated more than 70,000 non-refundable orders in the first month after its launch.
Xiaomi shares are still down more than a third this year as the manufacturer grapples with high raw material costs and intense pricing competition in China’s shrinking car market. Analysts have pointed to Xiaomi’s lower-than-expected EV deliveries this year.
The demand for the SkyNomad series ranks below the 240,000 non-refundable orders Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV received just within the first 18 hours of its release last year. Investors still rated it as positive given the significantly weaker demand in the Chinese market this year. Xiaomi said it delivered more than 40,000 vehicles in September, including 10,000 Skynomad SUVs.
The SkyNomad orders are “broadly supportive of Xiaomi’s EV growth story,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts including Timothy Zhao wrote in a note. “Besides SkyNomad, we expect new facelifts/models to support the delivery growth in China.”
Chinese EV peers also advanced, with BYD Co. and Li Auto Inc. each gaining more than 4%. Traders attributed the rally to some funds covering short positions that had been previously used to fund long bets on AI hardware shares.