So here's a fun thing that happened Tuesday: Nio Inc. (NIO) shares decided to go up. Like, really up—7.5% up. When a stock that's been down about 56% over the past year suddenly jumps like that, people tend to notice. And in this case, there are actually a couple of decent reasons why.

First, there's the delivery news. According to a report from CNEVPost, Nio is about to hit its 90,000th delivery of the third-generation ES8 SUV this very week. The company's head of user operations, Yang Bo, teased the milestone on Weibo. For context, Nio delivered its 80,000th ES8 unit on March 20. Do the math, and that implies the company delivered nearly 20,000 of these vehicles in March alone. That's not nothing.

We'll get the official numbers on Wednesday when Nio releases its March delivery figures. Back in its March 10 earnings report, the company said it expected to deliver between 80,000 and 83,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026. So Wednesday's report will show us if they're on track.

But the delivery momentum isn't the only thing putting a spring in investors' steps. There's also this: Nio recently did something it had never done before—it made a profit. A quarterly profit, to be precise. For the fourth quarter, revenue hit $4.95 billion, which is up 75.9% from the same period a year ago. Even better, adjusted earnings came in at 4 cents per American Depositary Share (ADS), which beat what analysts were expecting.

For a company that's spent years burning cash while trying to scale up in the brutally competitive electric vehicle market, turning a profit—even a small one—is a big deal. It suggests maybe, just maybe, the business model is starting to work.

Looking ahead, Nio's CEO William Li has been talking about the future of cars, specifically what he calls "physical AI." He recently discussed the concept with Frank Meng, the China chairman of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM). Meng made an interesting point during their chat: "automotive users cannot tolerate any interruptions." In other words, when you're driving, the technology in your car needs to work perfectly, all the time. No glitches, no reboots. That's a high bar for any AI system, but it's the standard Nio seems to be aiming for.

Now, let's talk about the stock chart for a minute, because the technical picture is telling a story too. As of Tuesday, Nio was trading 8.8% above its 20-day simple moving average and 13.3% above its 100-day average. That suggests the intermediate-term trend is improving, even after some recent ups and downs.

But let's keep it real: the stock is still down a whopping 55.98% over the past 12 months. It's sitting much closer to its 52-week low than its high. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 52.20, which is basically neutral territory—not overbought, not oversold. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is at 0.1472, which remains below its signal line at 0.1904. For the chart watchers out there, that's often seen as a potential caution sign in the very short term.

At the end of the day Tuesday, Nio shares were up 7.53%, trading at $5.92.

So what's the takeaway? You've got a company hitting delivery milestones, you've got it actually making money for once, and you've got management talking about the next big thing in car tech. That's a pretty good recipe for a stock to have a nice day. Whether it's the start of something bigger or just a one-day wonder will depend on those delivery numbers tomorrow—and whether Nio can keep that profit momentum going.