Courtesy of Fisker
Things are getting tougher for electric-vehicle start-ups. Stock prices have come down. One analyst sees more downside because competition in the EV space is ramping up.
Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney downgraded
(ticker: FSR) stock to Sell from Hold. His price target goes to $10 a share from $15.
Fisker stock is off 4.42% to $14.48 in Thursday morning trading.
Fisker stock has had a brutal few weeks. It wasn’t that long ago when the shares were trading at almost $32 each, shortly after the company announced plans for a second model to be built by Foxconn.
Fisker’s first vehicle, the Ocean SUV, is being built by
(MGA) and is due in late 2022.
That timing for Fisker’s vehicles isn’t optimal for Delaney, and one of the problems he has with the stock. “We are incrementally concerned about what we believe is the company’s late time to market,” wrote the analyst in a Wednesday report. He sees competition increasing.
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Delaney counts more about a dozen all-electric SUVs that should be available in the U.S. before the Ocean hits the market. What’s more, he sees traditional auto makers ramping up their focus on EVs.
for instance, has committed to launch 30 new all-electric vehicles by 2025.
That won’t be the only source of competition. Big tech might get involved.
(AAPL) is reportedly looking to produce an Apple-branded autonomous, electric vehicle. Also,
(BIDU) is partnering with Chinese car maker Geely, and Xiaomi has announced plans to invest $10 billion in EVs.
It’s all too much for Delaney to keep even a Hold rating on Fisker. He also cut his rating on
(RIDE) to Hold from Buy, and cut the price target to $10 from $21.
Lordstown stock is up 3.38% to $10.09 in Thursday morning trading. The stock’s 52-week high, like Fisker, is almost $32 a share. The
and
for comparison, are off about 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
The EV industry is booming, but also attracting more competition. Rising global EV sales might not be enough for all the once-hot EV start-ups to make it in the long run.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
