Chinese EV maker Nio ($NIO), not to be confused with Neo from the Matrix, is having a rough time, as reported by several outlets. Apparently it's real bad.
Instead of dog piling on Nio for the stock price, the debt, the potential layoffs, the spending, the borrowing, and several other factors we could point out, we choose to focus on the alternative data.
The LinkedIn ($MSFT) employee count as of today isn't taking that big of a hit, but the threat of more mass layoffs is looming. And the fact that job hiring has frozen is a huge red flag. You don't start the year looking for 200 new staff members and finish the summer stuck at 5 listings, without some major mis-steps.
Just to add insult to injury, here's the Twitter following going down by 4% since June. Twitter followings do not typically go down, since that would require a bulk of users unfollowing by clicking a button, which is dire.
If the Tesla of China wants to bounce back, it'll have to do so quick, because time is running out.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Hiring at Tesla has dropped 63% in the past year
- Tesla is on a hiring spree for salespeople as it re-focuses on profits
- Hiring at Tesla is up 33% since June
