Shares of Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) stock are down by about 7% today after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company provided a delivery outlook for the first quarter.
For the period, Li now expects to deliver between 76,000 and 78,000 vehicles, down from its prior estimate of between 100,000 and 103,000 vehicles. That reflects a substantial drop of 24% at the midpoint of both estimates.
The drop is due to lower-than-expected orders and a pacing mistake for its MEGA EV, which was launched on March 1. The MEGA’s Max trim starts at around $77,700, making it Li’s most expensive vehicle.
“We planned operations of Li MEGA as if the model had already entered the 1-to-10 scaling phase, while in fact, we were still in the nascent 0-to-1 business validation period,” said CEO and Chairman Xiang Li. “Similar to Li ONE and our EREV technologies, Li MEGA and our BEV technologies will also need to undergo this 0-to-1 validation process.”
Li added that the company will focus its MEGA sales efforts in locations with high purchasing power before bringing it back to the general markets. The CEO also noted that Li made a mistake by concentrating on deliveries instead of customer satisfaction.
The 5 Biggest Buyers of LI Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During the fourth quarter, 241 13F filers disclosed a stake in LI stock, an increase of 21 filers from the previous quarter. In total, these filers own 99.21 million shares, which declined by 0.24% compared to Q3.
While institutional investors were neutral on LI, hedge funds — a subset of institutional investors — were a bit more bearish. A total of 62 hedge funds reported a stake in LI stock, which remained unchanged from the prior quarter. However, total hedge fund ownership fell by 4.25% to 40.82 million shares.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Li Auto’s top buyers during Q4:
- D.E. Shaw & Co. bought 1.86 million shares, bringing its stake to 4.81 million shares.
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) bought 1.79 million shares, bringing its stake to 5.32 million shares.
- The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought 1.70 million shares after owning zero shares prior to the fourth quarter.
- FMR bought 1.39 million shares, bringing its stake to 10.74 million shares.
- Susquehanna bought 1.37 million shares, bringing its stake to 2.46 million shares.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
