Nio Stock

Nio had 26,763 full-time employees at the end of 2022, including 26,366 in China and 397 overseas.

A solid order backlog and improving production ramp bode well for Nio's ongoing operational recovery and rising sales, Morgan Stanley said.

A top Chinese government meeting on Monday boosted investor optimism, with Nio and Xpeng, the laggards of the past few months, coming into more favor.

Amid positive sector sentiment, investors are inclined to take opportunities on laggards like Nio to play the catch-up, Morgan Stanley said.

Li Auto leads the pack with superior execution, but risk-reward increasingly favors Xpeng and Nio after a drastic sell-off this year, Morgan Stanley said.

The team calls Nio management's long-term strategy the Blue Sky Blueprint, saying it will be a moat for the EV maker, though it's very costly to build.

China EV stocks are up an average of 20 percent year-to-date but have underperformed China tech ADRs since December, likely due to investor concerns about weak first-quarter sales and increased competition, according to Edison Yu's team.

In the meantime, ARKQ has also sold its shares of Xpeng three times this month and now holds about $3.77 million worth of the company's stock.

Xpeng is down 11 percent in the US this month, compared to Nio's 4 percent decline and Li Auto's 2 percent gain over the same period.

To date, a total of 23 companies have been added to the conclusive list, and another 105 are on the list of companies facing possible delisting.