Welcome to The Fly's latest edition of "Charged," where we look back at some recent analysts' notes, news and activity in the electric vehicle and clean energy space.
GRAPHITE TARIFFS: Tesla (TSLA) is asking the U.S. Government to waive tariffs on graphite coming from China, claiming it can't get it elsewhere, Electrek's Fred Lambert reported on December 2. "Tesla supports the renewal of the exclusion of artificial graphite from the Section 301 tariffs. Tesla has demonstrated with the information presented in this request that artificial graphite is currently not available in the specifications nor capacity outside of its current suppliers and China that is required for Tesla's manufacture of EV batteries in the United States," the EV-maker said. Tesla uses significant amounts of graphite in the anode of its battery cells, the author noted.
Meanwhile, RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak raised the firm's price target on Tesla to $950 from $800 on Monday morning, but kept a Sector Perform rating on the shares. The analyst updated his 2023, 2024, and 2025 total deliveries views to 1.46M, 1.73M, and 2.2M units, respectively, from his prior forecasts of 1.44M, 1.58M, and 1.8M, reflecting expectations for expanded production capacity at the company's Shanghai facility and the yet-to-come-online Texas and German plants, along with his updated electric vehicle demand forecast through 2050.
STREET ROLLS OUT COVERAGE: Shares of Rivian Automotive (RIVN) were in the spotlight on Monday after several Wall Street analysts initiated coverage of the stock with mostly bullish ratings. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas started the electric vehicle maker with an Overweight rating as he calls the company "the one" that can challenge Tesla. Voicing a similar opinion, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives argued that Rivian is in "the catbird's seat" to take considerable market share in this EV arms race under its "visionary" CEO and founder RJ Scaringe. More cautious on the name, however, JPMorgan initiated coverage of Rivian with a Neutral rating as the analyst there believes the stock's valuation is "clearly already pricing in a lot" after the recent rise in the shares.
NEW BOLT EVS ONLY LATE JANUARY: General Motors (GM) does not plan to build any new Chevy Bolt electric vehicles until at least the end of January 2022, with the car maker instead remaining focused on building replacement batteries for the over 140,000 Bolts that were recalled earlier in 2021, The Verge's Sean O'Kane reported. The company said the Bolt production line at the car maker's Orion factory in Michigan will continue to be shut down "through the week of January 24, 2022," the author noted. "We will continue to inform employees at the appropriate time of any additional production schedule adjustments, as we continue to focus on battery module replacements," GM added.
200K RESERVATIONS FOR F-150 LIGHTNING: In presentation slides for Ford (F) COO of North America Lisa Drake's presentation at Goldman Sachs' Global Auto Conference last week, the automaker reported that it has nearly 200,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning, which will be available in Spring 2022, and 22,000 units sales year to date in the U.S. for the Mustang Mach E, which launched in December 2020. The company is also seeing "high demand" for the E-Transit, with pilots underway with Penske and National Grid. Ford sees having 240 GWh of battery cell capacity globally by the end of the decade, with 140 GWh in North America and the remaining GWh split between Europe and China, the slides added.
DELIVERIES: Nio (NIO) has announced its November delivery results, with the company saying it delivered 10,878 vehicles, which represents an 105.6% year-over-year growth. The deliveries consisted of 2,683 ES8s, the company's six- or seven-seater smart electric SUV, 4,713 ES6s, the company's five-seater smart electric SUV, and 3,482 EC6s, the company's five-seater smart electric coupe SUV. NIO has delivered 80,940 vehicles year-to-date in 2021 in total, representing an increase of 120.4% year-over-year. As of November 30, cumulative deliveries of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 reached 156,581 vehicles.
Meanwhile, XPeng (XPEV) said it reached the monthly delivery target amidst global supply chain challenges with 15,613 Smart EVs delivered in November, representing a 270% increase year-over-year. Deliveries in November consisted of 7,839 P7 smart sports sedans, representing a 187% increase year-over-year. The P5 smart family sedan, launched in September, has been building a order backlog with 2,154 units delivered in November. At the same time, the G3i smart SUV - launched in July - is gaining increasing customer traction with 5,546 units delivered in November plus 74 G3s delivered. As of November 30, year-to-date total vehicle deliveries reached 82,155, representing a 285% increase year-over-year, including 53,110 P7 deliveries. The company's cumulative deliveries reached 121,953 as of the end of November.
Li Auto (LI) also announced that the company delivered 13,485 Li ONEs in November, representing a 190.2% year-over-year increase. Total deliveries for the eleven months ended November 30 reached 76,404, taking cumulative deliveries to 110,001.
INNOVATIVE, DISRUPTIVE: Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard initiated coverage of Archer Aviation (ACHR) with an Overweight rating and $14 price target. Archer is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that will be used as an alternative ride-sharing mode of transport for passengers traveling within cities in the U.S., Sheppard noted. The analyst believes the company benefits from an "innovative and disruptive" business model, "strong" partnerships, first-mover advantage, high barriers to entry, and an attractive valuation following the recent share price underperformance.
LIMITED UPSIDE: Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd downgraded SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $338, up from $318. While SolarEdge remains a "premium player" in the solar sector, the stock's year-to-date outperformance leaves limited room for further upside, Byrd told investors in a research note. The analyst added that as the company's non-solar business grows, its margins may decline over time.
Tesla
-20.27 (-2.00%)
Rivian Automotive
+6.12 (+5.85%)
General Motors
+0.46 (+0.77%)
Ford
+0.125 (+0.65%)
Nio
-0.09 (-0.28%)
XPeng
+0.775 (+1.77%)
Li Auto
+1.165 (+4.08%)
Archer Aviation
+0.23 (+3.72%)
SolarEdge
-1.7 (-0.55%)