Chinese electric car maker Nio ($NIO) has earned a bit of good press lately, but that may be a bit too late: shares of the stock may have finally bottomed out. 

The automaker made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in September of last year. Since then, shares have steadily traded down and the company's alternative data — including that for hiring and employee count — isn't terribly encouraging. 

Nio hiring - once numbering into the hundreds - may have leveled off to just about nothing, judging by a review of the job postings it has online. 

And it seems that employee headcount, tracked by the number of people who identify as current staffers at Nio, has crested and begun to decline, according to LinkedIn ($MSFT) Employee Headcount, our next chart. Total headcount appears to have shrunk by a handful of staffers, from its June 30, 2019, peak. 

So far, the company has posted losses post-IPO - although with more than 2,600 employees and potential plans to expand to Europe, there is plenty of time to reverse course. But after 60%-plus share price declines and sliding delivery numbers, plus the company's alternative data, outlook for Nio isn't terribly optimistic.

Seeing production - and job postings - ramp up after the company's partnership with China's government would be one cause for investors to get charged up for the electric automaker, and so far there is little data to encourage investors. 

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: 

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