NIO stock gains as Morgan Stanley keeps an Overweight view

NIO Inc. (ISIN US62914V1061) stock closed at USD 3.66 on September 18, 2026, up 1.10 percent on the day, with a 52-week range of USD 3.55 to USD 8.02. The latest catalyst is Morgan Stanley's reiterated Overweight call with a HKD 68.5 target, published on September 20, 2026.

Broker view stays positive

According to FuTu News, Morgan Stanley kept NIO at Overweight on September 20, 2026 and set a HKD 68.5 price target, while the bank said management reaffirmed its full-year non-GAAP profit goal. The same report says vehicle gross margin is expected to stay around 18 percent in the second half, even as memory costs per car may rise by RMB 2,000 to RMB 3,000.

That gives investors a clear tension point: NIO is still being judged on margin control, not just delivery growth. The bank's note also frames cash as less of a pressure point, with third-quarter cash and cash equivalents projected above RMB 60 billion.

Q2 numbers did the work

TradingKey's transcript of NIO's Q2 2026 conference says deliveries rose 49.4 percent year over year to 107,658 vehicles, while total revenue increased 69.1 percent to RMB 32.1 billion. The same Q2 update put vehicle gross margin at 18.5 percent, up from 10.3 percent a year earlier, and gross margin at 18.4 percent.

For a stock that still trades well below its 52-week high of USD 8.02, those Q2 figures matter more than the headline share move. The comparison is the point: revenue grew faster than deliveries, and vehicle margin improved by 8.2 percentage points year over year.

Price stays near the lower band

As of September 18, 2026, NIO stock was at USD 3.66 on the NYSE, with volume of 28.14 million shares and a daily gain of 1.10 percent. The gap to the 52-week high remains wide, and the current price sits only a little above the 52-week low of USD 3.55.

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