Vicinity Motor (NASDAQ:VEV) vs. NIO (NYSE:NIO) Critical Review

NIO (NYSE:NIO) and Vicinity Motor (NASDAQ:VEV) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and risk.

Volatility and Risk

NIO has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vicinity Motor has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for NIO and Vicinity Motor, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NIO	1	8	2	0	2.09
Vicinity Motor	0	0	0	0	N/A

NIO presently has a consensus price target of $7.55, suggesting a potential upside of 74.06%. Given NIO’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NIO is more favorable than Vicinity Motor.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NIO and Vicinity Motor’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NIO	$7.83 billion	0.95	-$2.94 billion	($1.69)	-2.57
Vicinity Motor	$29.64 million	1.00	-$16.63 million	($0.40)	-1.62

Vicinity Motor has lower revenue, but higher earnings than NIO. NIO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vicinity Motor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.6% of NIO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Vicinity Motor shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of NIO shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares NIO and Vicinity Motor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NIO	-39.38%	-111.91%	-20.99%
Vicinity Motor	-60.46%	-68.36%	-24.47%

Summary

NIO beats Vicinity Motor on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NIO

NIO Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles in the People's Republic of China. The company is also involved in the manufacture of e-powertrain, battery packs, and components; and racing management, technology development, and sales and after-sales management activities. In addition, it offers power solutions for battery charging needs; and other value-added services. The company was formerly known as NextEV Inc. and changed its name to NIO Inc. in July 2017. NIO Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About Vicinity Motor

Vicinity Motor Corp. designs, builds, and distributes a suite of transit buses for public and commercial use under the Vicinity brand in the United States and Canada. It offers electric, CNG, and clean diesel buses, as well as electric trucks and spare parts. The company was formerly known as Grande West Transportation Group Inc. and changed its name to Vicinity Motor Corp. in March 2021. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Aldergrove, Canada.