09:04 AM EDT, 03/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Nio's (NIO) fourth-quarter loss widened year over year as revenue fell short of market estimates, while the Chinese automaker expects vehicle deliveries in the ongoing quarter to decline on a sequential basis.

The company said Friday it anticipates deliveries to be in a range of 41,000 to 43,000 vehicles for the first quarter of 2025, reflecting annual growth of about 36% to 43%. It has already distributed 27,055 units as of Feb. 28. The automaker delivered 72,689 vehicles in the previous quarter, up 45% year over year.

Nio posted an adjusted loss of 3.17 renminbi ($0.43) per American depositary share for the December quarter, compared with a 2.81 renminbi loss the year before. Four analysts polled by FactSet expected a normalized non-GAAP loss of 2.39 renminbi.

Revenue advanced 15% year over year to 19.7 billion renminbi, but missed the Street's view for 20.24 billion renminbi. Vehicle sales climbed 13% to 17.48 billion renminbi, mainly driven by delivery volume growth, partially offset by lower average selling prices because of product mix changes, according to the EV maker.

The company's shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange fell 5.7% in premarket activity.

Gross margin during the quarter stood at 11.7% versus 7.5% the year before. Vehicle margin rose to 13.1% from 11.9%, benefiting from lower material cost per unit, Nio said. Operating expenses rose to 8.34 billion renminbi from 7.9 billion renminbi in the 2023 quarter.

"The sustained expansion of after-sales services and their profitability, along with the growth in provision of technical services, contributed to a positive quarterly gross profit in our other sales," Chief Financial Officer Stanley Yu Qu said in a statement.

For the current three-month period, Nio expects revenue to come in between 12.37 billion renminbi and 12.86 billion renminbi, representing annual growth of 25% to 30%. Five analysts surveyed by FactSet expect revenue of 17.96 billion renminbi.

"Looking ahead to 2025, we will sharpen our focus on enhancing profitability by driving cost reductions through technological advancements, optimizing operational efficiency and accelerating scalable growth," according to Yu Qu.