What happened
Shares of several North American companies in the electric-vehicle space were moving higher on Thursday due to continued investor optimism about the incoming Biden administration's plans to promote electric-vehicle sales in the United States.
Here's where things stood for these three companies' stocks as of about 1:15 p.m. EST, relative to their closing prices on Wednesday.
- Electrameccanica Vehicles (SOLO -3.55%) was up about 5.3%.
- Workhorse Group (WKHS -0.19%) was up about 15.4%.
- XL Fleet (XL) was up about 10.9%.
So what
President-elect Joe Biden campaigned in part on a green-energy plan that includes several provisions favorable to electric vehicles. The most significant is probably his plan to get 500,000 new electric-vehicle chargers installed across the U.S. by 2030. That would amount to a roughly five-fold increase in the country's EV-charging infrastructure.
This would obviously be a tailwind for electric-vehicle sales in the United States. And with the results of Tuesday's Georgia runoff election putting Democrats in charge in the U.S. Senate, the chances of Biden's energy policy goals getting legislative support now look much better than they did just a few days ago.
That's good news for all three of these companies, and was likely the most significant factor driving their stocks higher on Thursday.
That said, here's the most recent news on each.
- Canadian start-up Electrameccanica Vehicles offers a 3-wheeled electric commuter car called the Solo. Its stock got a boost on Monday after Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin pointed out that the 100-mile range and low operating costs of the Solo might make it ideal for fast-food chains looking to bring delivery services in-house. Irwin thinks the company is likely to announce some big fleet orders from restaurant chains in 2021, that those orders will help keep its new Chinese assembly line busy, and that significant year-over-year revenue growth seems extremely likely.
Could Electrameccanica's quirky Solo find a niche as a fast-food delivery vehicle? One analyst thinks it's perfect for that job. Image source: Electrameccanica Vehicles.
- Workhorse also got a boost earlier this week. The Ohio-based company said that it has received an order for over 6,000 of its new C-Series electric package-delivery vans -- more than three times as many as it had expected to manufacture in 2021. The order is from Pride Group, a privately held wholesaler of commercial vehicles and related products and services. Deliveries are expected to begin in July and run through 2026.
- Shares of XL Fleet, a Boston-based start-up that retrofits commercial vehicles with electric drivetrains, have been oscillating since it went public via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in December. The stock jumped at the end of December after Citron Research, famous for short sales, rated it a buy with a price target of $60 -- but it has had a bumpy ride so far in 2021.
Now what
Auto sector investors can look forward to detailed updates from all three companies next month, when they are expected to report their fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results.
