Midday Report: Mullen, Tesla, NIO, XPeng, Lucid, Rivian, Fisker, Nikola, …

As of 12:52 EST, most of the EV stocks are on negative territory along with the US Futures on the last day of the first quarter of 2022. Mullen Automotive is the only EV stock trading slightly higher than the previous close. The California-based company, is the stock most traded so far with 199M shares traded so far.

Mullen shares are currently trading 0.50% higher after yesterday’s run of 28%. Mullen’s CEO, David Michery, was on Wednesday at the Benzinga show where he unveiled many catalysts for the company. Despite not commenting the pre-orders numbers for the Mullen 5 model, Michery said that the company plans to announce that “a very large company that is going to buy a lot of these vehicles (vans)”. The CEO also reminded that Mullen will have “at least $65 Million USD of net cash” on the balance sheet by May 14th.

Tesla, the world’s leading EV manufacturer, is trading at $1090, down 0.36% on the day. Tesla shares are up 29.90% over the last 30 days after the Market pulback amid Russia’s invasion. Earlier today, Tesla has cancelled plans to resume production at its Shanghai factory on Friday and Saturday, according to an internal notice seen by Reuters.

Elon Musk confirmed on Tuesday via Twitter that Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta should be available in Europe for “Left Handed Drive” (LHD) this summer, and for right handed drive (RHD) “a few months later”. “These dates depend on regulatory approval” — Musk added. The company recently inaugurated its Berlin GigaFactory which is already producing Model Y for the European Market. The first units made in Berlin were delivered personally by Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk.

NIO shares are trading 5.10% lower at $21.04 being the second EV maker with most volume so far 52 Million shares traded. Most of the Chinese stocks are trading lower today due to potentially not meeting audit requirements in a renewed SEC push.

Earlier today, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu reiterated its $50 price target on the stock: “NIO remains our top pick in China EV this year and we reiterate our $50 price target, based on 5x 2023E EV/sales, materially lower than US EV peer comps, accounting for the de-rating in Chinese ADRs following concerns about delisting/geopolitics.”

Lihong Qin, NIO’s Co-Founder, Director and President confirmed on Tuesday that NIO ES7 Model will be released at the end of May. Qin was asked this Tuesday about the possibility to see the new model NIO ES7 as soon as next month and responded: “Released at the end of May”.

Also XPeng is being affected by the same reason mentioned on NIO. The stock is trading at $27.70, 2.60% lower than the previous close. Citi analyst Jeff Chung lowered on Tuesday its price target on XPeng shares to $67 from $92, keeping a Buy rating. Although the lower price target, Chung reiterated the company as a top sector pick after the company Earnings Results released earlier this week.

Rivian Automotive shares are trading around $50, 3.44% lower than the previous close. RBC analyst Joseph Spak released this Wednesday a client note on Rivian where he expects a stronger Q1 2022 deliveries than the consensus. The analyst expects the company to reach a weekly production of 320 units in Q1 2022, which means 2,3700 vehicles produced during the quarter.

Lucid shares are trading 3.55% lower at $25.56 with only 10.56M of volume. Cars.com, the leading automotive marketplace platform, unveiled this Tuesday its 2022 Top Picks for electric vehicles. The platform named Lucid Air model the Luxury electric vehicle model of the year due to its “mind-melting acceleration” and a “quiet, comfortable ride”.

Nikola is trading 5.49% lower at $10.51. Earlier this week, the company announced that signed a partnership with the market leading commercial finance company ENGS Commercial Finance Co., a member of Mitsubishi HC Capital Group. The partnership aims to facilitate sales of Class 8 Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and Nikola Tre hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Start of production of the Tre BEVs began last week at Nikola’s Coolidge, Arizona manufacturing facility.  The Nikola Tre FCEV deliveries are anticipated in 2023.

The American EV maker Fisker shares are trading at $12.78, 2.30% lower with only 1.8 Million shares traded, so far. The company published on Tuesday its Environmental Policy ahead of production, setting the standard for automotive OEMs. Deliveries of the Fisker Ocean will start shortly after production begins in November 2022 in select European countries and the US. Fisker Ocean has a starting price of $37,499 (excludes delivery, finance and government charges) in the US.

Faraday Future shares are down today (3.89% lower) after the company filed a Form 12b-25 notifying the SEC that the Company is unable to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 within the prescribed time period, and does not expect to file it by the extended filing date pursuant to SEC Rule 12b-25, as a result of delays related to internal investigation work and remediation efforts.