What happened
Shares of electric vehicle (EV) start-up Fisker (FSRN -14.37%) were trading lower on Thursday, after an influential Wall Street analyst panned the stock in a new note.
As of 10:45 a.m. EST today, Fisker's shares were down about 9.2% from Wednesday's closing price.
So what
In a note released after the U.S. markets closed on Wednesday, Wolfe Research analyst Rod Lache initiated coverage of Fisker with a rating of sell and a price target of $15.
Lache, a former Deutsche Bank analyst with a wide following, suggested that recent prices for shares of Fisker and electric-pickup start-up Lordstown Motors (RIDE 1.11%) have been high, given that neither company is expected to generate any meaningful sales in 2021.
Lache also rated Lordstown a sell, with a price target of $14; he had a somewhat more favorable view of electric-van maker Workhorse Group (WKHS 5.84%), which he rated a hold.
Workhorse isn't shipping a lot of vans, but at least it's shipping enough to generate around $140 million in revenue next year. For Lache, that was enough to set it apart from the others.
Fisker is aiming to launch its first electric vehicle, the Ocean SUV, by the end of 2022. It's unlikely to have much revenue before then. Image source: Fisker.
Now what
Lache is only the second Wall Street analyst to initiate coverage of Fisker. The other, Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osbourne, has a more bullish view: In a note last month, Osbourne gave Fisker an outperform rating with a price target of $22.
Why such different takes? It might be because Lache, a veteran auto analyst, looks at companies like Fisker from a traditional auto industry perspective, while Osbourne may have a more favorable view of new entrants after watching Tesla (TSLA -1.92%) over the last several years.
Who's right? Auto investors will have to stay tuned to find out.
