Nio

"Whether or not Nio qualifies for the final round, we don't know yet, but some conclusions will start to emerge by about 2024," he said.

Li said he had learned that many fans in Japan and South Korea wanted Nio to enter the regions, but the company had no team there before, and the team previously established in Europe and the United States made it easier to enter those markets.

Rumors that have been going on for nearly a year have finally come true, as Chinese electric car company Nio has officially announced that it will enter overseas markets, with Norway as its first stop.

Nio has always touted itself as a user-centric company, so it would make sense to innovate on user rights, and blockchain technology provides a good direction.

In the first half of 2020, Nio became CATL's largest customer as its shipments continued to rise.

Nio will start delivering vehicles in Norway this September, with the first model being the new ES8. Nio's flagship electric sedan, the ET7, will arrive in Norway next year.

Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team raises Nio's gross margin forecast by 250bps to 20.3 percent, leading to a higher EPS estimate.

USTC's research strength in China is almost comparable to that of Tsinghua University and Peking University. The university is located in Hefei, Anhui Province, which is also home to Nio China's headquarters and the JAC Nio facility.

Nio delivered 7,102 vehicles in April, down 2 percent from March, as chip shortages put constraints on its production capacity. The figure was up 125.1 percent from a year ago.

JP Morgan reiterated its Overweight rating on Nio and its $70 price target, about 80 percent above the stock's Thursday close of $38.99.