What You Missed This Week in EVs and Clean Energy

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 (TSLA), Wall Street’s newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) 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.

TARGET RAISE: Wells Fargo raised the firm’s price target on Tesla to $265 from $170, while keeping an Equal Weight rating on the shares ahead of the company’s Q2 results on July 19. Tesla beat Q2 delivery volume estimates, but Wells forecasts its auto gross margin falls to 17.5% due to continued price cuts and weaker mix. The stock has run up 68% in the last two months, likely driven by stronger than expected Q2 deliveries, the various deals to share its charging network with competitors, reports Model 2 is launching by end of next year, and Model 3 SR qualifying for full electric vehicle tax credit, says the firm. However, Wells is cautious about Tesla’s Q2 auto margin given price cuts, and is concerned about volumes heading into the second half of 2023.

Click here to check out Tesla’s recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.

DELIVERIES: Lucid Group (LCID) announced production and delivery totals for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. Lucid produced 2,173 vehicles during Q2 at its manufacturing facility in Arizona and delivered 1,404 vehicles during the same period. In addition, the company began material shipments to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, BofA resumed coverage of Lucid Group with a Neutral rating and $8 price target. The firm has reduced its Q2 and 2023 EBIT estimates after Q2 deliveries came in below its forecast and although it is not making meaningful adjustments for 2024 and later, BofA notes that it plans to revisit this following additional commentary during earnings reporting. The firm’s model now reflects the $3B share issuance announced on May 31, which it says was in-line with BofA expectations.

DELIVERY MOMENTUM: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of XPeng (XPEV) with a Buy rating and $18.10 price target. In the near-term, the firm expects the company’s vehicle delivery volume to regain momentum with the latest G6 model launch and forecasts margins to improve on larger vehicle delivery scale together with a decline in battery pricing, Goldman tells investors.

PLANT CAPACITY: Ford is taking advantage of increased plant capacity, continued work on scaling production and cost, and improving battery raw material costs to help lower the MSRP of F-150 Lightning for all customers. The Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan is temporarily closed to complete final plant upgrades to triple the plant’s annual run rate to a targeted 150,000 F-150 Lightning trucks beginning this fall. The upgrades at the plant, combined with improving battery raw material costs and continued work on scaling production and cost, help make it possible to lower pricing across the F-150 Lightning line. Customers will now have greater availability of their built-to-order truck as early as October at an MSRP closer to initial Lightning pricing.

BUY PLUG POWER: Northland upgraded Plug Power (PLUG) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $22 price target. The firm believes Plug is now on “a clear path to cash flow generation” with momentum picking up “with every incremental deal announcement.” Northland now has confidence that the company should be able to achieve margin break even by the end of the year and generate cash flow next year, Northland tells investors.

BULLISH AFTER UNDERPERFORMANCE: Raymond James upgraded SunPower (SPWR) to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $21 price target. The firm’s upgrade follows what it views as the stock’s “excessive weakness” due to the company’s overweight to the California market, the firm tells investors. SunPower’s stock has “noticeably” lagged year-to-date as it is down 46%, compared to Sunnova (NOVA) being up 2% and Sunrun (RUN) being down 26%, Raymond James noted.