NIO (NYSE:NIO) stock’s been on a downward spiral since the start of 2021. The electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer was once lauded to be the next big thing but has experienced struggles along the way, causing some investors to throw in the towel on this share. So is there any growth potential left that makes it worthy of consideration?

Why the battery’s low

First, it’s important to understand why the share price has performed poorly despite operating in a growth sector. The 28% fall over the past year can be put down to three main reasons. To begin with, competition in the EV space has ramped up. On top of other specialist EV firms like Tesla, NIO’s been competing with more traditional car makers pivoting to offer customers a hybrid of full EV options.

Another influence has been a poor financial performance. Back in November, the quarterly results showed a net loss of $710m, up from the loss of $639m from the year prior. This was also worse than analysts’ expectations. If a business can’t make a profit for a continued period of time, it doesn’t bode well.

Finally, NIO’s a Chinese company, headquartered out of Shanghai. The broader problems with the Chinese economy has hindered progress, with some investors steering clear of the stock as they saw it as a bellwether for the economy.

Optimistic outlook

But there could be significant growth potential left in NIO shares. For a start, production numbers are increasing. At the start of this month, the company released more information on delivery numbers for last year.

For December, 31,138 vehicles were delivered, a jump of 72.9% versus the same month in 2023. When we consider the year in total, 221,970 vehicles were delivered, an increase of 38.7% from 2023. This shows demand’s increasing, pushing revenue higher.

This could indicate that if the firm can keep a lid on costs going forward, making an annual profit might not be too far away.

Another factor’s the low share price. At $4.36, it’s close to the 52-week lows of $3.61. Below that and I have to look back to 2020 to find it at a similar level! On the other hand, it traded at $67 in 2021. So based on past performance, there’s an argument to be made that there’s certainly growth potential there.

The bottom line

Of course, past performance doesn’t indicate future returns. But when I consider that the company’s growing, I think it’s only a matter of time before financial results improve. It’s true that the EV space is competitive, but based on the potential market size, there’s plenty of money to go around. As a result, I think NIO could be a smart buy for investors to consider at the moment.