Usman Salis
Goldman Sachs just did a complete 180 on NIO (NYSE:NIO), upgrading them from "sell" to "neutral" while predicting gross margins will rocket from 4% to 15% by 2028.
Well, well, well - looks like Goldman Sachs finally decided to give NIO some love. The investment giant just upgraded the Chinese EV maker from "Sell" to "Neutral," which is basically Wall Street speak for "okay, maybe we were wrong about this one." The real kicker? They're now saying NIO's gross margins could jump from a measly 4% right now to a respectable 15% within the next three years. That's the kind of improvement that makes investors sit up and pay attention.
Goldman's NIO (NYSE:NIO) Call Comes with Some Tough Love
Here's where Goldman gets a bit sassy with their analysis. They're basically telling investors to stop obsessing over every little weekly vehicle registration number. But they've got a point - if you're serious about NIO as an investment, you should probably care more about their quarterly guidance than whether they sold 50 more cars this week than last.
This shift in perspective makes sense when you think about it. NIO isn't just another car company trying to copy Tesla's homework. They're building out battery swapping stations, pushing autonomous tech, and trying to crack the code on making EVs actually profitable. That stuff doesn't show up in weekly sales figures, but it sure as hell matters for long-term success.
Why NIO (NYSE:NIO) is Getting More Respect Lately
MarketBeat jumped on the bandwagon too, dropping an article on June 17, 2025, that basically echoed Goldman's upgrade and threw NIO into their "2025 stocks set to skyrocket" bucket. With EV demand still growing and NIO actually innovating instead of just throwing together another generic electric car, analysts are starting to see the bigger picture.
The stock's been all over the place lately - because what Chinese EV stock hasn't? - but this margin forecast is the kind of fundamental improvement that could actually matter. If NIO can really pull off going from barely profitable to decent margins while the EV market keeps expanding, that's a pretty compelling story for long-term investors who aren't scared of a little volatility.
Look, NIO's still got plenty to prove, and betting on Chinese stocks always comes with extra risk. But when Goldman Sachs goes from telling people to sell to saying "actually, this might work out," that's worth paying attention to. Just maybe don't check your portfolio every five minutes if you decide to jump in.
Usman Salis
