Tesla Analysts Temper Expectations, Fisker Shuts Down Shop, Nikola's 30-for-1 Reverse Split And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rebounded this week despite analysts beginning to take down estimates ahead of second-quarter deliveries and earnings, while Henrik Fisker, the co-founder of Fisker, failed as an entrepreneur for a second time as the Ocean SUV manufacturer officially went out of business.
Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:
Musk Teases Master Plan 4: Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X that the company may soon release Master Plan 4, amplifying expectations by describing it as “epic.”The announcement sent social media into a frenzy, while analysts began speculating about what might be included in the plan.
Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas said in a note that investors can expect anything but cars. He expects the plan to be underpinned by “Tesla's commercial ambitions in AI, robotics, hybrid computer,” including distributed thermal and computing in the car, spanning from cloud to edge. He added that the plan will likely focus on autonomy in a broader sense, not merely robotaxis, and may potentially include the Optimus humanoid robot.
On the other hand, analysts are a little nervous about Tesla’s near term. Barclays analyst Dan Levy lowered his second-quarter deliveries estimate for Tesla to 415,000 units, which is notably below the consensus estimate of 450,000 units, Barron’s reported. The analyst blamed the issue on weak European sales and only modest production increases in China. RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan reduced his price target for Tesla stock from $293 to $227, citing a muted outlook for the company’s robotaxi service.
Fisker Goes Under: The second time did not prove to be a charm for [Henrik] Fisker, as the second company he founded had to fold up. His earlier automotive venture, Fisker Automotive, was declared bankrupt in 2013 almost under similar circumstances. This time, Fisker, Inc., which he took public through a SPAC deal in October 2020, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware bankruptcy court due to the prospect of running out of cash and industry-wide demand issues. The company did try resuscitation measures, including talks with strategic partners for a fund infusion, but failed to clinch a deal.
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Nikola Confirms Reverse Split Ratio: Hydrogen and fuel-cell electric-vehicle company Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ:NKLA) confirmed the reverse stock split ratio in a filing with the SEC on Thursday. The company had earlier secured shareholder approval to split its shares in the ratio of not less than 1-for-10 and not greater than 1-for-30. It went with the high-end of the range. Nikola said the reverse split will take effect after the market close on Monday, and the stock will begin trading on a reverse split-adjusted ratio on Tuesday. The company also filed a prospectus with the SEC regarding the offering of an aggregate of up to 23.89 million shares, issuable upon the exercise of warrants originally issued in the initial public offering of VectoIQ, the SPAC with which it merged to go public.
Canoo Announces Secondary Offering: In a prospectus filed with the SEC, lifestyle vehicle manufacturer Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOEV) announced plans to sell up to 13.72 million shares by a selling shareholder, which it identified as YA II PN, LTD., a Cayman Islands-exempt limited partnership. Separately, it said up to 5,571,500 shares would be sold by Capital OKC Alliance II Inc., a Delaware corporation. The company clarified that it would not receive any proceeds from the proposed sale.
Canada Mulls Tariffs On Chinese EV Imports: Towing in line with the U.S. and European Union, Justin Trudeau is looking to announce Canadian tariffs on imported Chinese EVs, Bloomberg reported this week. The rumored move comes amid a sharp increase in the number of China EVs arriving at the Vancouver port, since Tesla started importing its made-in-China Model Ys to the country, the report said. The U.S. announced in May that it could nearly quadruple tariffs on Chinese cars, with rates being considered as high as over 100%.
The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF (NYSE:KARS) ended Friday’s session down 0.91% at $19.61, according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF fell 2.44%.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
EV Stock Performances This Week:
| Weekly Change (+/-) | |
| Tesla | +2.81% |
| Nio, Inc.(NYSE:NIO) | -0.69% |
| XPeng, Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) | +7.51% |
| Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) | -4.95% |
| Workhorse Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WKHS) | -43.19% |
| Hyzon Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYZN) | -22.29% |
| Canoo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOEV) | +2.78% |
| Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) | -5.15% |
| Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) | -1.19% |
| Faraday Future | -23.07% |
| Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ:NKLA) | -29.53% |
| VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) | -9.93% |
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