Elon Musk's 'Super Difficult' Tesla Goal, Fisker's Troubles Just Got Worse, Faraday Future Eyes Affordable Segment And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week
Electric vehicle stocks mostly retreated in the week that ended on June 14 despite the broader market closing just shy of the record high. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was in the spotlight this week amid its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The week also saw British EV startup Arrival (OTC:ARVLF) confirming its bankruptcy filing.
Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:
Tesla Dodges Bullet: After months of lobbying by Tesla’s board, C-suite, and CEO Elon Musk, shareholders adopted the resolution to reapprove the billionaire’s 2018 compensation plan. The move lifted a burden that had been weighing down the stock. With the issue now in the rearview mirror, Musk sounded confident about the way forward for the company.
In a strong statement of confidence, the Tesla CEO said he sees the company’s market cap swelling to over $30 trillion, with the bulk of the value coming from the humanoid robot, the Optimus.
Future Fund’s Gary Black weighed in in response. The fund manager estimates that the market demand for robots will be 1 billion per year. Assuming Tesla captures 10% of the market share and the price of each robot is $20,000, the company can make a $1 trillion in profit after factoring a cost per unit of $10,000. Optimus alone will give Tesla a $20 trillion to $25 trillion valuation, he said.
“Autonomous vehicles: 100M vehicles market x 10% share = 10M veh/year x $50K price, $30K cost = $200B profit/year x 25x P/E = $5T value Total value $30T,” he said. ” Who am I to say it can't happen? Elon did it with EVs when skeptics said he couldn't.”
Fisker Recalls Ocean SUVs: Struggling EV startup Fisker, Inc. (NYSE:FSRN), which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, said this week it was recalling thousands of Ocean SUVs in North America and Europe. The recall was to address faulty software and non-compliance with safety standards. The recall includes 6,864 Ocean SUVs in the U.S., with an additional 4,056 Oceans being updated in the EU and 281 SUVs in Canada.
See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks
Workhorse Announces Reverse Split: Battery electric truck maker Workhorse Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WKHS) said it will implement a 1-for-20 reverse stock split. Shareholders of the company approved a stock split by any whole number between 1-for-10 and 1-for-20 in an annual meeting on May 14. The shares, which currently trade in penny-stock territory, will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens for trading on June 17.
Separately, the company also announced a strategic collaboration with Kingsburg Truck Sales, its certified dealer based in Kingsburg, California, as well as the completion of the previously disclosed divestiture of its Aero business. It said these efforts are aimed at addressing the needs of California’s commercial truck and small fleet owners amid the enforcement of California Air Resources Board regulations, while also streamlining its business to focus on core strengths.
Faraday Future Starts Phase 2 Deliveries: EV startup Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIE) said it delivered the latest FF 91 2.0, an electric full-size luxury crossover SUV, to prominent retail investor Jun He. This marks the resumption of the second phase of deliveries that began last year. The company also disclosed plans of an affordable EV.
“FF is considering introducing a second brand under our ‘US-China Automotive Industry Bridge Strategy’, which could seek to integrate our high-value solutions and features into vehicles in a more affordable mass market product segment, which would enable more retail investors to enjoy our ‘Ultimate AI TechLuxury' in the future,” it said.
Ford Eases Dealer Investment Norms: Legacy automaker Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), which has faced a setback in its electrification plan amid slowing adoption of green energy vehicles, is reacting to the softness. The company rolled back some of the stringent norms introduced in 2022 under the “Model E dealership program” banner for its dealers selling EVs. The norms for certification as an “Elite” or a “Standard” dealer required investments of up to $1.2 million. Following not-so-strong participation by dealers and the demand weakness, Ford now plans to allow all dealers to stock EVs.
The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF (NYSE:KARS) ended Friday’s session down 1.05% at $20.10, according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF fell 3.83%.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
EV Stock Performances This Week:
| Weekly Change (+/-) | |
| Tesla | +0.30% |
| Nio, Inc.(NYSE:NIO) | -10.35% |
| XPeng, Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) | -11.78% |
| Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) | -6.38% |
| Fisker | -1.52% |
| Workhorse Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WKHS) | -16.67% |
| Hyzon Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYZN) | -2.41% |
| Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOEV) | -11.77% |
| Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) | -5.56% |
| Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) | -7.69% |
| Faraday Future | -16.40% |
| Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ:NKLA) | +2.22% |
| VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) | -0.69% |
Photo: Shutterstock
