Shares of Li Auto Inc. LI rallied 4.5% in premarket trading Monday, after the China-based electric vehicle (EV) maker reported a fourth-quarter profit that was more than double what was expected even as revenue came up a bit shy. Net income fell to RMB265.9 million ($37.3 million), or RMB0.25 per American depositary share, from RMB295.5 million, or RMB0.29 per ADS, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of RMB0.98 beat the FactSet consensus of RMB0.47. Total revenue grew 66.2% to RMB17.65 billion ($2.56 billion), below the FactSet consensus of RMB17.82 billion. Deliveries increased 31.5% to 46,319 EVs. Cost of sales grew 70.9% to RMB14.08 billion, as gross margin contracted to 20.2% from 22.4%. For the first quarter, the company expects deliveries of between 52,000 and 55,000 EVs and revenue of between RMB17.45 billion and RMB18.45 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of RMB17.57 billion. The stock has soared 38.2% over the past three months through Friday, while the iShares MSCI China exchange-traded fund MCHI has climbed 12.2% and the S&P 500 SPX has slipped 1.4%.
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