Reward Li Bin handsomely, but on the condition that the market value is multiplied by 8.5 and the net profit exceeds 41.2 billion.
After 11 years of operation and over 100 billion yuan in losses, NIO has finally turned a profit!
On March 10th, NIO released its first quarterly profit report, with an operating profit of 1.25 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of last year. As soon as the news came out, its US stocks soared by over 15%.
Notably, the report also mentioned an equity incentive plan, which includes stock rewards for the founder, chairman, and CEO, Li Bin.
This money isn't for free. To pocket it, Li Bin has to accomplish two major tasks with NIO.
NIO is ambitious and aims for a market value of $100 billion
According to the official announcement, this 2026 stock incentive plan will grant Li Bin 248 million Class A common shares, accounting for 10% of NIO's total outstanding shares as of the end of February.
These 248 million shares are equally divided into 10 installments, with 24.84 million shares per installment. They can only be unlocked upon achieving specific performance targets, and the plan is valid for 12 years.
Among them, the market value track consists of 5 levels. NIO's US stock market value is required to cross the $30 billion, $50 billion, $80 billion, $100 billion, and $120 billion marks in sequence. Each time a threshold is crossed, 1/10 of the shares will be unlocked.
The profit track accounts for the other 5 levels. The company is required to achieve net profits of $1.5 billion, $2.5 billion, $4 billion, $5 billion, and $6 billion in sequence. Each time a target is met, another 1/10 of the shares will be unlocked.
How difficult is this goal? We can find out by comparing it with the current situation.
After NIO's US stocks soared by 15.38% following the release of the financial report, its market value reached $14.15 billion. For Li Bin to receive the first - level market value reward, he first needs to double the market value.
To reach the highest target of $120 billion, the current market value needs to be multiplied by 8.5.
The difficulty on the profit side is even greater.
In the whole year of 2025, NIO still had a net loss of 14.94 billion yuan, while the first - level profit target of $1.5 billion is approximately 10.3 billion yuan.
The highest - level target of $6 billion is approximately 41.2 billion yuan, directly comparable to the profit level of global first - tier automakers.
Moreover, this plan also includes two locking clauses.
Firstly, there is a strict employment constraint. When each installment of shares is unlocked, Li Bin must still hold a core position at NIO. Once he leaves, all un - unlocked shares will be directly invalidated.
Secondly, there is an extremely long restricted - sale period. Even if the shares are successfully unlocked, not a single share can be sold or transferred within the next 5 years, completely eliminating the possibility of short - term cash - out and fully tying personal gains to the long - term value of the company.
This kind of equity incentive plan is not uncommon in the new energy field.
Previously, XPeng Motors' HK$14.2 billion incentive plan for He Xiaopeng was of the same kind of deep - binding model, with three - level targets, and the highest target was to reach a market value of HK$1.4 trillion.
Back then, Tesla's option plan for Elon Musk was even more classic. With a zero base salary, he could unlock equity worth $56 billion through 12 levels of step - by - step performance targets. Musk completed all the targets in just 5 years, leading Tesla to the top of the global auto industry.
First quarterly profit after 11 years of establishment
NIO's confidence in setting such an aggressive goal lies in its strongest report card since its establishment 11 years ago.
NIO's financial reports for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2025 show that the total revenue in the fourth quarter reached 34.65 billion yuan, a year - on - year surge of 75.9%.
The single - quarter vehicle delivery volume reached 124,800 units, a year - on - year increase of 71.7% and a quarter - on - quarter increase of 43.3%. The single - quarter delivery volumes of NIO, LeDao, and Firefly, the three major brands, all reached record highs, completely breaking the previous sales ceiling of a single brand.
The more core change is the leap - forward improvement in profitability.
In the fourth quarter, NIO's vehicle gross profit margin reached 18.1%, a year - on - year increase of 5 percentage points. The single - quarter gross profit totaled 6.074 billion yuan, a year - on - year surge of 163.1%, directly covering all expenses and finally achieving a profit.
Looking at the whole year, NIO's total revenue in 2025 increased by 33.1% year - on - year, the vehicle delivery volume increased by 46.9% year - on - year, and the annual net loss was significantly narrowed by 33.3% year - on - year. It is clearly shifting from scale expansion to profit realization.
The management even directly stated that NIO will achieve non - GAAP profitability in the whole year of 2026.
Conclusion
Since its establishment, NIO has never been free from controversy.
From the early doubts about the cash - burning of new car - making forces, to the debate between battery - swapping and ultra - fast charging routes, from the sales pressure under the industry price war, to the pain of multi - brand transformation, Li Bin was once called "the most miserable person", and NIO has been written off countless times as "not being able to survive the next quarter".
However, the company has managed to make it step by step, achieving a leap from crazy investment to single - quarter profitability.
Whether Li Bin can ultimately complete this epic bet and pocket the HK$82.4 billion incentive mainly depends on whether NIO can transform its technological advantages into continuous product strength and its scale advantages into stable profitability.
Do you think Li Bin can complete the incentive plan?
This article is from the WeChat official account "Tech Daily Push". Author: Tech Daily Push. Republished by 36Kr with permission.