Normally, when a major fund like Cathie Wood‘s ARK series sells off, it takes share prices down with it. But investors bought, and bought hard, sending electric vehicle stock XPeng (NASDAQ:XPEV) soaring up over 10% in Wednesday afternoon trading.
ARK Invest — more specifically, the Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) — sold 226,727 shares of XPeng yesterday. The day before, it sold 128,222 shares, which dropped ARK’s holding to just 9,319 shares. That’s the smallest amount of shares in anything ARK has on hand. Why ARK decided to sell off nearly all of its XPeng stock is still unclear. However, what’s much clearer is that it sold off just as the stock started a multi-day climb that’s actually still going on.
Aside from that, we also know that XPeng recently released the new P7i, a sporty little number that comes in at a fairly decent price point of $36,185 for a starter model. That compares nicely to the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3, which is now priced at around $42,990, and may have a price hike coming in the near future. However, some analysts are warning against XPeng, saying that it suffers from “too much competition.” That’s not hard to see, given the sheer number of competitors out there, from Tesla to legacy automakers and other Chinese electric vehicle makers.
Analysts have mixed opinions about XPeng’s overall future. Analyst consensus calls it a Hold, with two Buy recommendations, three Holds, and three Sells. Meanwhile, thanks to its average price target of $10.34 per share, XPeng stock offers a distressing 8.82% downside risk.
