Here are three big stories moving EV (electric vehicle) stocks today:
A Tesla bull throws in the towel
After yet another share sale this week by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk (and an ensuing stock drop yesterday) and the latest headlines coming out Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has seen enough.
Ives, one of the biggest Tesla bulls on Wall Street, took Tesla off the firm’s “Best Ideas” list and cut its price target to $250 from $300.
“In what has been a dark comedy show with Twitter, Musk has essentially tarnished the Tesla story/stock and is starting to potentially impact the Tesla brand with this ongoing Twitter train wreck disaster,” Ives wrote in a note today.
“From selling Tesla stock again and again, to the PR nightmare that Twitter has become, cutting 50% of employees and then needing to bring some back, Musk’s attention focus from Tesla to Twitter, and ultimately the fear that this Twitter lightening rod of controversy on a daily (almost hourly) basis starts to negatively change the Tesla brand globally,” he said.
While Ives says the long-term Tesla growth story is intact, in the short term Ives believes Tesla investors are “the ones that have been punched again and again by the Musk Twitter antics,” and that Musk needs to focus more on his “golden child,” Tesla, as the EV competition heats up against a softening global macro environment.
Nio pops on strong revenue growth
And speaking of Tesla’s competition, Chinese EV-maker Nio (NIO) shares are climbing higher today after a strong Q3 sales showing.
For the quarter, Nio reported:
That revenue figure represents a nearly 33% gain from a year ago, which appears to have shaken off any concern over the reported wider than expected loss.
Nio says that loss and smaller margins were due to a decrease in sales of regulatory credits, rising costs of items like batteries, and investment in charging and service network.
Nonetheless, the automaker delivered 31,607 cars in Q3, up nearly 30% from a year ago and an all-time record. Nio’s new EV sedan the ET5 has seen strong interest, CEO William Bin Li said, and that it “will support a substantial acceleration of our overall revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2022.”
Looking ahead Nio revenue growing in Q4 the range of $2.44 – $2.70 billion, which would be an increase of at least 75% – 94% from a year ago, and also sees Q4 deliveries in the range of 43,000 and 48,000 units, which represents growth of 71.8% to 91.7% from the Q4 last year.
Rivian shares jump despite mixed earnings report
Rivian (RIVN) shares are jumping higher here, along with the broader market, following a mixed earnings report.
For the quarter, Rivian reported:
However the company said it would still hit its 25,000 annual production forecast, meaning it will have to produce around 10,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter to hit that goal. Rivian also disclosed that it had 114,000 preorders for its R1 vehicles.
Though the company burned through cash in the quarter and still sees a $5.4 billion adjusted EBITDA loss for the year, CEO RJ Scaringe was confident the company was in a good financial position.
“We have a strong balance sheet with $14 billion in cash that offers us the flexibility to navigate these uncertain economic times and look for capital-efficient methods to drive growth,” Scaringe said.
Looking ahead to future vehicles, Rivian pushed back the launch of its R2 vehicles to 2026, with the opening of its new factory in Georgia happening in 2025.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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