Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.
From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla, Wall Street's newest darling Rivian, traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM and Ford to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with "Charged," a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.
SHANGHAI PRODUCTION: Tesla (TSLA) plans to restore production at its Shanghai factor to pre-lockdown levels by Tuesday, a day later than its most recent recovery plan, Reuters' Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh reported. Tesla will more than double its daily output to 2,600 electric vehicles at its Shanghai plant from Tuesday, according to the memo detailing the plan.
PRE-SHUTDOWN LEVELS: Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh kept a Buy rating on Nio (NIO) with a $60 price target after hosting the company at the firm's auto technology seminar. The analyst believes production and the supply chain is improving with Nio potentially back to pre-shutdown levels by June. Rakseh adds that the new Nio Pilot+ autonomous package, to be launched in a few months, is priced at a 40%-50% discount to Tesla's self-driving system. "With light at the end of the tunnel for Shanghai lockdowns," Nio appears on track for long-term growth with its premium electric vehicle leadership, global expansion and mass market brand launch in 2024, Rakesh told investors in a research note.
TESLA REMOVAL FROM S&P 500 ESG INDEX: Margaret Dorn, Senior Director, Head of ESG Indices, North America at S&P Dow Jones Indices, stated in a blog post dated May 17 that, "It is that time of year yet again: the seasons are changing, spring is in the air and the S&P 500 ESG Index has undergone its fourth annual rebalance. Just as it has in years past, the changes of the 2022 rebalance reflect the delicate balancing act of providing for broad-based market exposure but with meaningful and measurable sustainability-focused enhancements... one familiar name may stick out as being absent from that list: Tesla. Tesla was ineligible for index inclusion due to its low S&P DJI ESG Score, which fell in the bottom 25% of its global GICS industry group peers. It joins Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson & Johnson and Meta, which have once again met the index methodology's chopping block... First and foremost, the GICS industry group in which Tesla is assessed - Automobiles & Components - experienced an overall increase in its average S&P DJI ESG Score. So, while Tesla's S&P DJI ESG Score has remained fairly stable year-over-year, it was pushed further down the ranks relative to its global industry group peers. A few of the factors contributing to its 2021 S&P DJI ESG Score were a decline in criteria level scores related to Tesla's (lack of) low carbon strategy and codes of business conduct. In addition, a Media and Stakeholder Analysis, a process that seeks to identify a company's current and potential future exposure to risks stemming from its involvement in a controversial incident, identified two separate events centered around claims of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at Tesla's Fremont factory, as well as its handling of the NHTSA investigation after multiple deaths and injuries were linked to its autopilot vehicles."
After Standard and Poor's removed Tesla from its S&P 500 ESG Index, Elon Musk tweeted, "ESG is an outrageous scam! Shame on @SPGlobal. Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn't make the list! ESG is a scam. It has been weaponized by phony social justice warriors."
NEUTRAL POSITION: Tudor Pickering analyst Matt Portillo upgraded Tesla to Hold from Sell. With the stock down 31% this year, Portillo sees better-than-expected automotive gross margins and what he expects to be upside to the consensus 2022 earnings view as reasons to be in a "neutral" position on the stock at current levels, he said.
BUY SUNNOVA: Northland analyst Abhishek Sinha initiated coverage of Sunnova Energy (NOVA) with an Outperform rating and $30 price target. Sinha sees "a compelling entry point" for investors looking for exposure to the residential solar market given the view that Sunnova has "a well-oiled dealership-based business model" as well as very strong and dependable cash flows. All the solar stocks have been hit hard due to rising rates, roiling equity market and looming uncertainties over government policies, but Sinha believes Sunnova "should spring back up," fueled by solid residential demand when the dust settles.
GLOBAL LEADER IN SOLAR TRACKERS: Northland analyst Donovan Schafer initiated coverage of Array Technologies (ARRY) with an Outperform rating and $18 price target. He believes Array is well-positioned to become the "global leader in solar trackers" with the recent STI Norland acquisition. Further, Schafer expects stock performance to turn around as the company's margin recovery continues to prove out.
The analyst also started coverage of FTC Solar (FTCI) with an Outperform rating and $7 price target. FTC's differentiated "two-in-portrait," or 2P, tracker design is well-suited for the increasingly complex sites in the U.S. and allows it to offer the benefits of 2P trackers at a level that is cost competitive with 1P trackers, said Schafer, who argues that it could "become the much sought-after counterbalance" to Array Technologies' and NEXTracker's duopoly.
NEW EV CHARGING MODEL: Maxim analyst Tate Sullivan initiated coverage of Charge Enterprises (CRGE) with a Buy rating and $8 price target. The analyst is positive on the company having created a new business model for EV charging infrastructure that he expects to "lead to orders in multiple states from various types of customers." Sullivan adds Charge Enterprises' efforts in combining EV charging and telecommunications infrastructure businesses can help the company hire and train electricians, reduce worksite procurement costs, complete jobs, and generate free cash flow earlier than most companies in the industry.
Charge Enterprises
-0.055 (-1.49%)
FTC Solar
-0.15 (-3.91%)
Array Technologies
+0.065 (+0.72%)
Sunnova Energy
-0.395 (-2.28%)
Nio
-0.9 (-5.48%)
Tesla
-13.25 (-2.00%)