What You Missed This Week in EVs and Clean Energy

Tesla recalls some Model S and X vehicles due to cabin door issue, Wedbush sees $1T market cap in 2024 for the stock

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.

RECALL: 

Tesla is recalling 120,423 2021-2023 Model S and X vehicles as the cabin doors can be unlocked during a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted on its website. The agency said these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 214, “Side Impact Protection.” Tesla has released an over-the-air software update, free of charge, the agency added.

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

$1T MARKET CAP: 

Wedbush raised the firm’s price target, while keeping an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm has an increasingly bullish view of further electric vehicle share gains and margin stabilization in 2024 for Tesla, and sees the company reaching a $1 trillion market capitalization in 2024 despite growing skepticism by the Street. The firm further notes that Tesla is now raising prices in China and seeing steady demand in the region.

OKLAHOMA FACTORY: 

Tesla supplier Panasonic (PCRFY) said it has decided against building a multimillion-dollar electric vehicle factory in Oklahoma, River Davis of The Wall Street Journal reports. The company currently has an EV plant under construction in Kansas, but had been looking at Oklahoma as a potential additional location. Panasonic cited a “wide range of factors” as its reason for deciding to not move forward with the plan. Sources have told the Journal that Panasonic has battled high costs at the Kansas construction site.

WAITING ON EV SALES, SERVICE IN 2024: 

Half of the Ford dealers in the U.S. will only “sell hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles” in the coming year, Phoebe Wall Howard wrote for the Detroit Free Press. The dealers are still weighing the decision and costs needed to retool for sales and service of electric vehicles, added the DFP story. Ford spokesman Marty Gunsberg told the Detroit Free Press. “EV adoption rates vary across the country and we believe our dealers know their market best,” added the story.

ARRAY TARGET: 

BofA lowered the firm’s price target on Array Technologies (ARRY). In its updated valuation framework, BofA now gives Array full credit for 45X tax credits, consistent with other clean tech peers, and also consistent with its treatment of peers, it now values EBITDA exclusive of tax credits in the firm’s EV/EBITDA valuation. The changes to the firm’s valuation methodology, in conjunction with its peer multiple mark-to-market, nets to a reduction in the firm’s price target. A series of guidance cuts driven by customer delays have pressured the shares of Array year-to-date and BofA expects volatility in the near-term leading up to the Q4 call where management typically issues fiscal year guidance.

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Originally Posted December 2023 – What You Missed This Week in EVs and Clean Energy