The ‘SPAC King’ just explained why Rivian’s $100 billion-plus market cap isn’t as crazy as you think — here are 3 more EV stocks to get in on the boom
Electric vehicle stocks are all the rage these days.
EV startup Rivian Automotive priced its IPO at $78 per share last month. Today, the buzz stock sits around $115, supporting a market cap of roughly $100 billion.
Meanwhile, shares of rival electric automaker Lucid Group have surged nearly 45% over just the past month.
Naturally, investors are growing concerned over stretched valuations in the space.
But billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya defended Rivian’s white-hot runup in his recent podcast, highlighting the company’s well-engineered trucks and signed contract to sell 100,000 of them to Amazon.
The venture capitalist — often referred to as the SPAC King because of his big bets on blank-check acquisition companies — even said that Rivian’s critics remind him of the “Tesla-Q guys,” a group of crowd-sourced researchers who’ve (incorrectly) bet against Tesla in recent years.
Of course, Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid aren’t the only players capitalizing on the EV boom.
Here’s a look at three more companies in the EV space — one might be worth purchasing with some of your extra cash.
Nio (NIO)
Known as the “Tesla of China,” Nio has become a household name for U.S. EV investors.
Shares rose from $4.02 to $48.74 apiece in 2020, marking a staggering gain of over 1,100%. And thanks to the meme stock frenzy early this year, Nio continued to surge, reaching well above $60 in January.
But parabolic runs don’t last forever. Nio has since pulled back significantly from those highs.
While the shares have been on a rollercoaster ride, Nio’s business continues to expand at an impressive pace. The company delivered 24,439 EVs in Q3, up 100% year over year and 11.6% sequentially.
That said, there is plenty of competition in China’s EV market. Companies like Li Auto and XPeng are also vying for a piece of the action.
If these suggestions are too volatile for your taste, you can build a smart, diversified portfolio automatically just by using your spare change.
Ford (F)
Ford shares tumbled hard during the pandemic-induced market sell-off in early 2020. But America’s homegrown automaker has made a nice comeback since then.
Ford’s stock price has more than doubled over the past year alone.
As a company whose best seller is the F-Series pickup trucks, Ford isn’t exactly a pure-play EV stock.
But management is electrifying its lineup.
Ford introduced the Mustang Mach-E, a five-door electric compact SUV, in November 2019. The model went on sale in December 2020 and won the 2021 North American SUV of the Year Award.
Ford is also working on a fully electric pickup named the F-150 Lightning. Production is expected to begin next spring.
Of course, Detroit’s other major automakers are also in the EV space.
General Motors has long had EVs in its lineup. Meanwhile Stellantis — the parent company of Chrysler — intends to invest about $35 billion in electric vehicles and new software through 2025.
Blink Charging (BLNK)
Rounding off our list is Blink Charging, a relatively unknown name compared to other EV stocks we’ve just mentioned.
But it has delivered generous returns to investors.
At the beginning of 2020, Blink Charging was trading at less than $2 per share. Today, it’s near $36. You do the math.
And Blink doesn’t even make electric cars. Instead, the company focuses on the charging side of the space.
Blink has deployed more than 24,000 EV charging stations across the country and has over 190,000 registered members. It uses a proprietary-based software that operates, maintains, and tracks the EV stations connected to its network.
In Q3, revenue rose 607% from the year-ago period. And the increasing adoption of EVs should continue to fuel massive long-term growth in Blink’s business.
To be sure, EV stocks are some of the market’s most volatile stocks. And they’re not cheap.
Tesla trades at over $1,100 apiece.
If you don’t want too much exposure to the segment, there is an app that allows you to buy fractions of shares with as much money as you are willing to spend.
A finer alternative
While EV stocks are certainly exciting, they’re also very volatile.
If you want to invest in something that has little correlation with the ups and downs of the stock market, you might want to consider an overlooked asset — fine art.
Contemporary artwork has already outperformed the S&P 500 by a commanding 174% over the past 25 years, according to the Citi Global Art Market chart.
Investing in fine art by the likes of Banksy and Andy Warhol used to be an option only for the ultra-rich like Palihapitiya.
But with a new investing platform, you can invest in iconic artworks too, just like Jeff Bezos and Peggy Guggenheim.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
