Electric vehicle stocks declined in the week ending July 1, taking cues from the retreat in the broader market. The S&P 500 Index fell in the first four sessions of the week amid economic worries, before coming back up in the final trading session, and yet ended the week lower. Company-specific news also hurt sentiment toward some stocks.
Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:
Negative Headlines On Tesla Abound: Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reportedly laid off 200 salaried and contract workers of its Autopilot team in California. The most affected were hourly data annotation specialists, who use software tools to manually label objects in video clips collected from Tesla vehicles. The labeled data is fed into the AI system so that it learns to accurately perceive the environment.
Tesla has reportedly canceled or delayed deliveries of some Model Y Performance variant vehicles in Germany due to defects. The problem, however, does not affect the Model Y Long Range vehicles shipped from Giga Shanghai and delivered to Germany.
The EV giant is facing a fresh lawsuit after a former employee turned down a $15 million award in a racial discrimination lawsuit, Reuters reported.
Nio Called Out By Short Seller: Nio, Inc. (NYSE: NIO) shares came under pressure this week after Grizzly Research alleged that the Chinese EV startup was using an audacious scheme to inflate revenue and profitability. The short seller saw similarities between Nio and Valeant Pharma, which used related-party transactions to boost sales. Nio promptly issued a rebuttal and said the report is without any merit and contains numerous errors, unsupported speculations, and misleading conclusions and interpretations.
Chinese EV Trio's Sales Pick Up Pace: After a weak April performance amid the COVID-19 disruptions and a modest recovery in May, Chinese EV stocks, including Nio, XPeng, Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) reported deliveries for June, capping off a tough quarter with a strong showing.
Nio delivered 12,961 vehicles in June, taking its tally for the quarter to 25,059 vehicles. XPeng's June and second-quarter deliveries came in at 15,295 and 34,422 units, respectively. Li Auto, meanwhile, sold 13,024 units in June and 28,687 units for the second quarter.
Related Link: Why This Tesla Battery Supplier Is Rethinking $1.3B Arizona Plant
Ford Recalls About 2,900 EV Pickup Trucks: Ford Motor Company (NYSE: NYSE:F) recalled 2,886 F-150 Lightning EV pickup trucks this week. The recall was to fix issues with the tire pressure monitoring system light that may not illuminate when intended and therefore may not provide adequate warning of low tire pressure.
Rivian Pushes Back Deliveries In Canada: Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN) has reportedly informed its reservation holders in Canada that deliveries of the R1S SUV and R1T EV pickup truck will now be delayed to the second half of 2023. The company had earlier given a timeline of September 2022. The EV maker blamed the delay on supply chain issues and a lack of service infrastructure.
Faraday Future Spikes Without Any News: Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIE) shares started the week on a weak note and slipped again on Tuesday. The stock turned around and rallied through the remainder of the week, seeing marked strength on Friday, when it jumped over 36%.
The EV maker hasn't made much headway after revealing its first production model – the FF91 - in February. The company received a preliminary request for information from the U.S. Department of Justice in June.
The strong run-up, belying the broader market weakness, could be due to a big thrust from the retail trading crowd.
Related Link: Elon Musk's 6-Day Silence On Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) Unlikely To Be About Tesla, Analyst Says
EV Stock Performances for The Week:
Photo: Courtesy of ford.com
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