What happened
Shares of Chinese electric-vehicle maker NIO (NYSE: NIO) were moving higher on Monday. The company said last week that it is moving to increase its stake in a subsidiary created as part of a bailout deal last year.
At 11:45 a.m. EST, NIO's American depositary shares were up about 4.1% from Friday's closing price.
So what
In a regulatory filing last week, NIO said that it is spending about $850 million to increase its ownership of NIO China to 90.36% from 86.4%. (What's NIO China? Last year, NIO gave up a stake of its Chinese assets in exchange for a $1 billion bailout from economic development authorities in China's Anhui province. NIO China is the legal entity that holds NIO's Chinese assets, created as part of the bailout deal.)
If you were confused by that news, you weren't alone. (I wrote an explanation for you here.) Some of NIO's Chinese investors, who apparently didn't read my explanation, speculated that last week's move might have been part of the preparations for a public offering of NIO China.
In response to that speculation, China's Securities Daily reported that's not the plan. NIO is buying back part of NIO China because it's bullish on its own business, Securities Daily reported, citing an unnamed NIO senior executive.
Is that why the stock is moving higher today? It could be.
Image source: NIO.
Now what
NIO did have some minor news to announce on Monday morning: It will report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings to auto investors after the U.S. markets close on Monday, March 1. Note that NIO's conference call will happen in the evening, at 8:00 p.m. EST, which is 9:00 a.m Beijing time.
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