EV Truck Maker Lordstown Motors Is Getting Bought - new IPO coming ?

Barrons just reported Lordstown Motors—the company building a new electric truck at a former General Motors plant—is being acquired by a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

DiamondPeak (ticker: DPHC) is buying the EV startup. That’s the company that investors can trade which will morph into Lordstown Motor eventually. When the deal is done, DiamondPeak will change its stock ticker to RIDE.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to build Lordstown Motors into a top-tier electric truck company that is highly differentiated from the competition,” said Lordstown CEO Steve Burns in the company’s news release.

The transaction will raise about $675 million for Lordstown and values the company at about $1.6 billion. That makes a 10% stake held by the electric-van maker Workhorse (WKHS) worth about $160 million.

DiamondPeak is up 25% in premarket trading. Workhorse stock is rising, too, with a gain of 4%.

In addition to its 10%, Workhorse earns a royalty on sales of Endurance trucks, the ones Lordstown will sell. The deal should be a positive for Workhorse stock.

Workhorse investors, however, are most interested in the U.S. Postal Service. Workhorse is bidding for a contract to replace hundreds of thousands of Post Office vehicles. A decision is due this fall.

A lot of electric vehicle startups have taken the SPAC route to market including Fisker, Hyliion and heavy-duty truck maker Nikola (NKLA) to name a few. Chinese based Li Auto (LI) looks like an outlier selling shares to the public in a traditional IPO.

There has been a lot of EV activity in 2020. The space is hot, helped, no doubt, by the incredible performance of Tesla (TSLA) shares in 2020. Tesla stock is up about 240% year to date. Tesla is now the world’s most valuable car company.

The Lordstown Endurance is slated to enter the EV competition with a release in 2021. The truck will get a targeted 75 miles per gallon and the company has secured about $1.4 billion worth of preorders.

“Our platform is rooted in sustainability, and the entire Lordstown team is committed to ensuring we contribute to a healthier planet for generations to come,” added Burns.

Coming into the deal, DiamondPeak stock was up about 3% year to date, a little better than comparable returns of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Read More

Alibaba increases its stake in Xpeng before EV maker's IPO

According to autonews.com Chinese electric-vehicle startup Xpeng Motors is raising more funds from Alibaba Group Holding and other investors ahead of its planned initial public offering in New York, according to people familiar with the matter.

Qatar Investment Authority also is one of the backers putting in another $300 million total in Xpeng, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. That expands Xpeng’s pre-IPO funding round announced last month to $800 million. The increased funding reflects investor demand, one of the people said.

The Guangzhou carmaker still may add to its haul before the IPO, the people said, as investor interest in EVs increases following gains in shares of Tesla Inc. and the U.S.-listed Nio Inc. this year. Xpeng competes against those two companies and a raft of other startups in China, the world’s largest EV market.

The company has filed confidentially to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public as soon as this quarter, the people said.

An Xpeng representative declined to comment. A spokesperson for Alibaba, an early backer of Xpeng, confirmed the technology giant’s participation in the latest round, without providing details. Qatar Investment, a new investor, didn’t respond to requests for comment. The South China Morning Post earlier reported the increase in the funding round.

After years of developing cars and trying to boost their profiles globally, Chinese EV makers are taking steps to go public as the virus pandemic and economic slowdown squeeze the market, boosting competition. Li Auto raised $1.1 billion via a listing on the Nasdaq last week, and Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. said it would list in Shanghai as soon as next year. WM Motor Technology Co. is also weighing an initial stock sale in China as soon as this year, people familiar with the matter have said.

Xpeng delivered 5,185 units of its first vehicle, the G3 crossover, in the first half. It started deliveries of its second model, the P7 sedan, in July, shipping 1,641 units that month.

Read More

Why Kandi Technologies Stock Slumped

What happened

Shares of Chinese electric-vehicle maker Kandi Technologies (NASDAQ:KNDI) were trading lower on Friday afternoon, two days after a surprise rally that more than doubled its share price. 

As of 3:15 p.m. EDT, Kandi's American depositary shares were down about 13.4% from Thursday's closing price -- but still up about 83% for the week. 

So what

Kandi's stock price jumped 140% on Wednesday afternoon, after the company said that it will launch two of its small electric cars in the United States at a virtual event on Aug. 18. Interested customers will be able to reserve the Kandis with a $100 deposit at that time, the company said.

The two cars that Kandi plans to bring to the U.S. are hardly Teslas. They're both urban commuter cars with small battery packs and, shall we say, modest performance. Kandi's U.S. flagship, the K23, is an upright four-door hatchback with an estimated range of 188 miles, a price of about $30,000 before incentives, and a very un-Tesla top speed of just 70 mph. 

KANDI'S K23 DOESN'T LOOK OR PERFORM LIKE A TESLA, BUT IT WILL COST CONSIDERABLY LESS. IMAGE SOURCE: KANDI TECHNOLOGIES.

That doesn't stack up well against the Chevrolet Bolt or Nissan Leaf, both of which offer better range, top speeds more appropriate to U.S. highways, and nationwide service networks -- and build quality that is known to be high -- for not much more money.

Kandi's other U.S.-bound model, the simpler and cheaper K27, is definitely intended as a city car: It has estimated range of around 100 miles, a price of $20,000 before incentives, and a top speed of 63 mph. 

Now what

It's no surprise that the company's stock soared on Wednesday's news, given the intense investor interest in electric-vehicle stocks in recent months triggered by Tesla's massive run-up earlier in 2020. Nobody wants to miss out on the next Tesla -- but on closer examination, Kandi might not be the right horse to bet on in that race. 

I think auto investors have been doing that closer examination and that's why Kandi's stock fell back on Friday. 

Read More

NIO Stock Upgrade ?

It's time for the Analysts to review and give an Upgrade to NIO for the below reasons. It might be coming anytime soon today or before the earnings.

1. As reported by Barrons NIO got an upgrade just a week back from Chinese investment bank named China International Capital Corp., or CICC. Analyst Lei Wang upgraded the electric-vehicle maker’s stock to the equivalent of Buy from Hold. What’s more, his price target went to $13.50 from $5.50, up about 145%. 

2. Since it's a chinese stock Analysts never cared but now they are catching up and its due for an analyst rating. I am not talking about the infamous Goldman Sachs Mr Fei Fang who gave a Buy rating then changed it to Hold and then changed it to Sell in a 3 weeks time span. Investors felt he is less credible source because of his inappropriate ratings which can be seen in many investor discussion forums. 

3. There were lot of articles published about NIO stock as costly, use caution. They were right because they thought June 2020 sales deliverable were pure luck for NIO as it never delivered that type of numbers in its history. Today NIO released July 2020 sales- the second best figures that's 2 consecutive sales beat in a row and lots of promising news in the pipeline which will make the same analysts to rethink and reevaluate NIO stock as it is the NEXT Tesla of China. 

4. Analyts are now realizing that NIO built a strong foundation in the last few years with their battery swap facilities, expanding their sales show rooms, NIO houses and so on. Now they are seeing the benefits.

The EC6. Image source: NIO.

Read More

NIO delivered second highest ever of 3,533 vehicles in July 2020, increasing by 322.1% year-over-year

According to the press release from NIO click here to read NIO delivered 3,533 vehicles in July 2020, representing a robust 322.1% growth year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 2,610 ES6s, the Company’s 5-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and 923 ES8s, the Company’s 6-seater and 7-seater flagship premium smart electric SUV. As of July 31, 2020, cumulative deliveries of the ES8 and the ES6 reached 49,615 vehicles, of which 17,702 were delivered in 2020.

Nio delivered the second highest ever in their history despite floods and production halts.

“In July, we are pleased to have achieved the second-highest monthly delivery results despite the impact on productions due to a 5-day suspension of manufacturing to prepare for EC6 productions and other flood-related supply chain challenges,” said William Bin Li, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of NIO. “More proudly, we have achieved a record-high monthly order growth, attributed to a stronger demand of the ES8 and ES6, together with the increasing EC6 orders, thanks to the continuous support of our users. We believe we will be able to increase our production capacity significantly to support higher deliveries in the third quarter of 2020.

NIO lost 5 days due to flooding and EC6 production which means they delivered 3533 in 26 days. That is 135 cars per day so the lost 5 days they could have delivered 679 more which adds upto 4212 cars. Bin Li said they see a very strong demand for Ec6 orders there new model. September deliveries will include Ec6 according to Bin Li so September will see a record sales number.

Nio was up 6% in premarket and investors are feeling more positive with the strong guidance and they are expecting a turnaround in the earnings report which will be released in a week August 11 according to NIO.

We believe Nio is a Strong buy. Investors are seeing the value now as NIO was able to produce stellar sales consecutively for the last 2 months.

We see upside movement in the stock which will continue till their earnings report on August 11,2020. If they deliver a good earnings this stock is poised to explode. 

Read More

Nio delivered a total of 4,152 units in July from Chinese news outlet [Unconfirmed]

According to the Chinese news website autohome.cn Weilai [Nio] Automobile delivered a total of 4,152 units in July, of which 2,645 were ES6 and 1,507 were ES8, a record delivery volume.

Today August 03, NIO officially announced the correct numbers. Chinese news outlet autohome.cn was a fake report and misleading one. Please refer here for the correct report.

It looks like the Chinese source which we referenced was taken down. We have a screenshot of the news which translates to the below in English 

The Below report was a fake report which was circulated yesterday...Please refer here for the correct report

Full translation of the news reported as per autohome.cn 

 Weilai [Nio] Automobile delivered a total of 4,152 units in July, of which 2,645 were ES6 and 1,507 were ES8, a record delivery volume. The decline in ES6 sales is to give capacity to the more expensive new ES8. ES8 is expected to continue to rank firmly among the top ten medium and large SUVs. At present, due to parts procurement problems, Weilai's production capacity has reached its limit. Previously, the founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai revealed in an interview with Chewei New Media that Weilai is planning to expand production capacity and it is estimated that production capacity will increase significantly in September. In September, Weilai will usher in a new car EC6 and a 100-degree battery. With the increase in delivery of the new ES8, the reputation of the new ES8 is reported to be huge. The sales volume of Weilai in September is expected to rise to a higher level. According to Weilai President Qin Lihong, Weilai’s previous average delivery price was 450,000 yuan. As the proportion of ES8 rises, this average selling price will continue to rise. As a result, NIO will become the only car brand in the Chinese market that can buy more expensive products. This will give great support to the Weilai brand, and it is also a reflection of the increasing acceptance of the brand by users.

• 

• 
  
  

Read More

Technical Analysis: What happened on Friday [July 31] The Short Term and Long Term Support Level on NIO Inc. (NIO)

NIO Inc. (NIO) has seen some recent action in the market and its shares closed at $11.94 on Friday July 31,2020. Overall the market was red but when stocks entered the green territory towards the end NIO was kept below $12. One reason might be the $12 contracts expiring on Friday and the big boys were in play to make sure that it stayed below $12. There was no negative news for Nio on Friday except for the China tensions which will have no effect on Nio stock as discussed on my previous post. Nio only operates in China market and China is the only country which is seeing a big rebound in the economy as most of the countries are still fighting covid-19. Nio will report record sales number tomorrow and shorts will be burned tomorrow for selling it on Friday. 

Long term investors will be rewarded if they hold this stock for long term. 

 

Nio will enter the bullish territory starting Monday.Once it breaks the $13 resistance it should rocket up to the previous high of $16. 

Read More