Lordstown Motors (RIDE) said on Tuesday that it had firm and binding orders for the first two years of production of its pickup truck. "Currently, we have enough orders for production for '21 and '22," President Rich Schmidt said at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit, Reuters reported. "Those are firm orders we have for those two years."
Schmidt also said Lordstown will seek additional funds from General Motors (GM) and other early investors. GM owns a small stake in the startup.
A few months ago, Hindenburg had alleged that Lordstown Motors had “no revenue and no sellable product” and that Lordstown had “misled investors on both its demand and production capabilities.” That follows the company’s report from a few weeks ago where it said production would be sharply lower than previously expected. And that was after Wolfe Research downgraded the stock and assigned a $1 price target.
Last week, Lordstown warned in a regulatory filing that it might not be able to continue as a going concern. And in May, Lordstown said the 2021 production of its flagship tuck would be around half its previous forecasts.
TheStreet's Jim Cramer says to steer clear of Lordstown Motors. "I like Lucid and I like Fisker (FSR). Let's stay away from Lordstown Motors RIDE," said Cramer.
There are too many question marks with Lordstown and too many red flags, according to TheStreet's Bret Kenwell. It’s reminiscent of Nikola (NKLA). Particularly when NIO (NIO), Tesla and Ford are all available investments.
Tesla (TSLA) launched the high-performance version of its Model S, aiming to reignite interest in the nearly decade-old sedan and fend off rivals including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Lucid Motors in the luxury electric vehicle market.
The high-end EV reveal, which comes with an unexpectedly higher price tag, comes amid a more challenging few months for Tesla, shares of which have fallen nearly 18% this year amid concerns the carmaker is facing more competition from the likes of NIO (NIO) and Ford (F) as well as production delays related to the global chip shortage that has led to price increases on other Tesla models.
Cramer is a huge supporter of Ford. "It's one of our large positions [in the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio] ... if you want to try to play what's going on, play Ford."
Ford's latest all-electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, is at the forefront of the company's $22 billion global electric vehicle plan. Ford is starting with zero-emissions versions of its most popular and best-loved franchises – Mustang, Transit, and F-150 – with much more to come.
Cramer says that Ford will crush Tesla with its Electric F-150. "I would buy Tesla, I would buy AMD, but I think Ford is going to absolutely crush Musk when they do the F-150 electric. Ford's product versus the Aztek product that Musk has for pick-ups...they're going to run circles around it."
All-solid-state battery producer Solid Power, which makes electric batteries for automobiles as well as mobile devices, is going public on the Nasdaq through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp III (DCRB) valued at $1.24 billion, the firms announced on Tuesday.
Solid Power already counts giant automakers Ford and BMW among its existing investors, which further positions Ford for future growth.
"Solid-state batteries have long been the elusive technology breakthrough in the battery category for the better part of a decade," said DCRC board chairman Robert Tichio. "Solid Power's technology is built around a manufacturing process that would be indistinguishable to lithium-ion batteries, putting this Company in a league of its own." The company estimates a nearly $220-billion total addressable market for solid-state batteries, including electric vehicles.
Here is a list of the electric vehicle stocks to watch:
Tesla
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) edged lower Wednesday in midday trade. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity on Tuesday lowered their price target on the electric vehicle maker on delays in the company's new battery cell format. Canaccord analyst Jed Dorsheimer affirmed a buy rating while lowering his price target to $812 a share from $974.
Tesla last week launched the Model S Plaid, a high-performance version of its Model S sedan. The move was an effort to update the vehicle which hasn't changed much in 10 years. The company had previously teased a Plaid Plus model that was to feature the new battery, but then canceled the Plaid Plus launch, saying that the new model of the Plaid made the Plus unnecessary.
Tesla holds the second-largest quantity of Bitcoin of any public company with 43,200. Bitcoin rose 4.5% after Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company would resume transactions with the world's largest cryptocurrency when mining is done with more "clean energy usage."
Ford
Ford Motor (F) said this past week that reservations for its all-electric 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning have surpassed 100,000, since its unveiling on May 19. The company is taking $100 refundable reservations. Official orders will be available later this year, the company told the Detroit Free Press.
Cramer thinks investors have more than one reason to buy Ford. "Ford Motor is a huge beneficiary of used cars. One of the reasons why Ford's bottom line will be so good is because they dramatically benefit from the increase in used trucks because there are not enough trucks. It's a fantastic situation for Ford," Cramer said.
Lordstown Motors
Lordstown Motors (RIDE has been all over the place lately, with shares ripping and plunging on a daily basis, wrote Kenwell. The company's shares rose Tuesday after the electric truck maker said it had firm and binding orders for the first two years of production of its pickup truck. In midday trade Wednesday, the stock was trading 0.78% higher.
Lordstown announced that the company's chief executive and chief financial officer will step down following an independent investigation following allegations from Hindenburg Research. That’s never a good sign to see the top officers of a company walk away, Kenwell noted.
Hindenburg alleged in March that Lordstown is an "electric vehicle SPAC with no revenue and no sellable product" that it alleged had "misled investors on both its demand and production capabilities."
The charts say to avoid the stock.
General Motors
Cruise, the autonomous car company majority-owned by General Motors (GM), has garnered a $5 billion credit line from GM’s finance unit, GM Financial. The money will be used to help Cruise build its electric-battery autonomous shuttle, Origin. Cruise has started building about 100 of the units, Bloomberg reports.
“GM is working with Cruise and providing a $5 billion line of credit so we can efficiently finance the expansion of our fleet as we scale up over the next few years,” Cruise Chief Executive Dan Ammann wrote in a blog. “This bumps up Cruise’s total war chest to over $10 billion as we enter commercialization.”
Nikola
Electric truck maker (NKLA) posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company said that during the first quarter, it commissioned the first batch of five Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicles.
Last month, Nikola unveiled plans with Iveco and OGE to transport hydrogen from production sources to fueling stations that support fuel-cell elective vehicles. And this past week, the company said Total Transportation Services, one of Southern California's most prominent port trucking companies, signed a letter of intent to order 100 Class 8 battery and fuel-cell electric semi-trucks.
NIO
NIO (NIO) revealed that "Gemini" is the code name for a new high-end electric vehicle lineup to be launched next year, burying speculation that the China-based EV maker was looking to release a less-expensive mass-entry-level electric car.
NIO supplier JAC Group last month invited bids for construction of a NIO production line codenamed “Gemini” that would produce 60,000 units a year, sparking speculation that it would be a new entry-level NIO model.
A company spokesperson confirmed that the “Gemini” project will involve building NIO-branded luxury cars that will compete with the likes of Tesla, Audi, BMW (BMW) and others -- not lower-priced models.
The Chinese electric vehicle maker reported a more than 95% year-over-year increase in deliveries for May. NIO delivered 6,711 vehicles in the month and 109,514 vehicles year to date.
XPeng
Along with NIO and Li Auto (LI), Xpeng (XPEV) is one of the main challengers to Tesla in China, the world's largest EV market.
Xpeng shares have been rising after the Chinese electric vehicle maker reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, including a sevenfold surge in revenue. They have dropped 47% over the past three months amid investor concern about the stock's valuation.
Xpeng debuted the Xpeng P5 smart sedan last month, which the Chinese electrical vehicle maker said is the world’s first mass-produced smart EV equipped with automotive-grade LiDAR technology. LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, is a system that helps provide visibility for autonomous vehicles.
Plug Power
Fuel-cell maker Plug Power (PLUG) said it completed the restatement of its financial statements for the past three years. The company said the restatements had no effect on its cash position, business operations or economics of its commercial arrangements.
"For those who like hydrogen, the stock to like is Plug Power," Cramer said in an interview. "The company has been getting breakout orders, which I like. But at the same time hydrogen is at 60 bucks; it needs to be competitive with oil."
QuantumScape
Electric vehicle battery makerQuantumScape Corp. (QS) reported first-quarter results that missed estimates. The company reported a net loss of 20 cents a share, compared with a 6-cent loss in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 7 cents a share for the latest period.
Canoo
Canoo (GOEV) announced last month that it was appointing Tony Aquila, its executive chairman and one of its largest investors, to the role of chief executive.
