Ford, Lucid and Fisker stand out in Exane's look at auto while Rivian is tagged as an underperformer
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Exane BNP Paribas launched coverage across the auto sector as it weighed the rapidly-evolving developments with the supply chain and electric revolution. For the near-term, the analyst team set expectations for global production this year below consensus expectations.
Looking at the individual auto stocks, the firm said it favors Ford (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) after seeing the Detroit heavyweights deploy considerable resources to transform core operations and push electrification.
As far as electric vehicle startups, BNP likes Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID
+1.3%) for its clear technological advantage and Saudi backing, while Fisker (NYSE:FSR
-1.0%) is viewed favorably with the automaker seen able to de-risk its production ramp through the partnership with Magna-Steyr. BNP is cautious on Rivian Automotive (RIVN
+4.0%) on the expectation that production numbers will be revised lower.
Exane BNP Paribas initiated ratings on GM (GM), Ford (F), Lucid (LCID) and Fisker (FSR) at Outperform while Rivian (RIVN) was started with an Underperform ratings.
On the supplier side, Gentex (GNTX
+1.5%) and Aptiv (APTV
-0.2%) were started at Outperform, while Lear (LEA
+1.2%) and Magna International (MGA
-0.3%) were slotted at Underperform. Neutral ratings were fired off on BorgWarner (BWA
+0.9%), Visteon (VC
-0.5%), Goodyear, Adient and American Axle.