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.

BUY RIVIAN: On October 26, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Rivian Automotive to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged $29 price target. The company’s Q3 production and deliveries were above expectations, and Rivian looks well-positioned to achieve and exceed its annual guidance, though the stock has underperformed by 27% in the past month and is down about 12% year-to-date, the firm told investors.

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

DRIVELESS OPERATIONS: In a set of Thursday tweets, Cruise said, “The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult…In that spirit, we have decided to proactively pause driverless operations across all of our fleets while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust…This isn’t related to any new on-road incidents, and supervised AV operations will continue. We think it’s the right thing to do during a period when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to risk, relentlessly focused on safety, & taking steps to rebuild public trust.”

On Tuesday, the California Department of Motor Vehicles had issued a statement on the immediate suspension of deployment and driverless testing permits for GM’s Cruise, saying that, “Public safety remains the California DMV’s top priority, and the department’s autonomous vehicle regulations provide a framework to facilitate the safe testing and deployment of this technology on California public roads. When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits. There is no set time for a suspension. The California DMV today notified Cruise that the department is suspending Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, effective immediately. The DMV has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department’s satisfaction. This decision does not impact the company’s permit for testing with a safety driver.”

GM, HONDA DROP PLANS: General Motors and Honda (HMC) have abandoned plans to jointly build affordable electric vehicles in the midst of slower-than-expected demand and changing market conditions, CNBC’s Michael Wayland reports. “After extensive studies and analysis, we have come to a mutual decision to discontinue the program. Each company remains committed to affordability in the EV market,” GM spokesman Darryll Harrison said in an email. “Each company remains committed to affordability in the EV market.”

CHALLENGING NEAR-TERM SETUP: TD Cowen downgraded EVgo (EVGO) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $4, down from $6. The firm cites slower than expected DC fast charging installations, a softer commercial fleet throughput outlook as businesses rethink their capital projects, capital requirements, and intensified competition from Tesla for the downgrade. EVgo added only 13 ports in Q3 versus the firm’s modeled 212 ports added, according to its tracker. TD sees a challenging near-term setup given the significant capital needs for the company’s continued network expansion.

MOVING TO THE SIDELINES: Piper Sandler downgraded Enphase Energy (ENPH) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $75, down from $150. The company’s revenue guidance further declined in Q4 due to destocking headwinds and weaker demand, Piper tells investors in a research note. The firm says that while 2025 may represent a return to annual growth, its confidence in Enphase’s velocity of the recovery is low. Given limited visibility and a full valuation given no near-term growth, Piper is “throwing in the towel.” It looks for confirmation of revenue stability and declining U.S. residential financing costs to get more constructive on the name.