It has been an annus horribilis for Chinese Tesla wannabe NIO—and 2020 will be another tough year.

NIO’s New York-listed shares jumped 54% Monday after reporting better-than-expected results and upbeat guidance. The sharp move is probably due to that fact that nearly 30% of the company’s freely traded shares were shorted, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners. The good news may have driven some short sellers to cover their positions, forcing the stock higher.

But even after the jump, the Chinese electric-vehicle maker’s stock is still down 42% for the year. And while NIO’s sales have improved, its dire need for cash is a big problem. NIO says its cash balance isn’t enough to provide the required working capital and liquidity for continuous operation in the next 12 months.

Net debt rose by 2 billion yuan ($286 million) in the third quarter, giving a good indication of how fast it is burning through cash. At this pace, its 2 billion yuan cash on hand as of September could soon be exhausted. NIO said it has received $90.5 million from issuing convertible bonds to its founder, with another $9.5 million pending, but even that is only going to last for another month.

So investors buying into NIO now are essentially betting someone will come to the rescue. But NIO has a market value of nearly $4 billion after Monday’s pop, making it a big target. Its enterprise value, which includes both equity and debt, is about 4.6 times trailing sales—a significant premium to Tesla. Strategic investors are unlikely to want to pay such a high price to buy into a company that is still burning money at an exorbitant rate. In addition, any potential deal involving a capital injection rather than a full takeover could mean big dilution to existing shareholders. NIO said it’s working on several financing projects, though there are no details.