What happened
QuantumScape (QS 3.71%) stock plunged this morning, dropping 10.3% around 9:52 a.m. ET to its all-time lows. The electric vehicle (EV) battery stock received yet another analyst downgrade today. The analyst's price target points at about 29% downside from the stock's closing price Tuesday, but it should pinch investors hard given that QuantumScape stock has already lost almost 70% of its value in 2022.
So what
Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney downgraded QuantumScape stock's rating from neutral to sell and slashed its price target to $5 a share from $8 per share.
Delaney foresees disappointment for investors in QuantumScape who are focused on the company's earnings and free cash flows. The analyst expects QuantumScape to continue generating negative earnings and cash flows for several years now given its long "time to market," or the amount of time the company requires to bring its solid-state battery technology to the market.
Now what
Solid-state lithium metal batteries could be a major breakthrough for the EV industry given their advantages over the traditional lithium-ion batteries that currently power most EVs. QuantumScape is building and testing multilayer battery cells and has even partnered with some global automakers, including a joint venture with Volkswagen.
However, QuantumScape is still in the development and pre-revenue stage, and the road to a commercial launch is long and tough. The company is still making its first samples, and once validated by customers (or its automotive partners), it'll make more samples for testing on cars. It is only after QuantumScape's battery cells pass these phases that the company will build final prototypes for commercial production and sales. The entire process could take another couple of years and, of course, require a lot of cash.
So while investors who see promise in solid-state battery technology may want to wait on QuantumScape, it's not surprising to see more and more analysts turning sour on the EV stock for the near term.
