Electric vehicle stocks: Ford splits businesses, Rivian boosts prices, renewable pure-plays gain
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The electric vehicle sector is buzzing with new developments including Ford (F
+6.3%) confirming plans to separate the automaker's EV business.
General Motors (GM
+2.9%) and Stellantis (STLA
+2.6%) both showed gains as investors weighed the implications for those legacy auto giants. Meanwhile, the ongoing attack on Ukraine by Russia has some investors betting that electrification initiatives will accelerate in the EV sector as part of a national goal to reduce the reliance on oil. Gainers included XL Fleet (XL
+13.0%), Tritium DCFC (DCFC
+3.1%), Lightning eMotors (ZEV
+3.0%), REV Group (REVG
+4.1%), Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS
+6.2%), Embark Technology (EMBK
+2.9%), Microvast Holdings (MVST
+4.3%) and Hyliion Holdings (HYLN
+2.6%) with investor eyes on renewable energy plays. Arrival (ARVL
+3.2%) also rallied after the company's earnings report and production update were well received.
Laggards in the sector on Wednesday included Rivian Automotive (RIVN
-11.5%), which said it increased prices of its vehicles by about 20% due to inflationary pressures and higher component costs. That prompted Tesla (TSLA
-0.6%) CEO Elon Musk to tweet that Rivian's "negative gross margin will be staggering" and warned it will be "near impossible" for EV startups to make affordable electric pickup trucks. Lordstown Motors (RIDE
-10.6%), Workhorse Group (WKHS
-4.8%), Lucid Group (LCID
-3.2%) and Proterra (PTRA
-6.6%) also slumped against that backdrop.
Broad market update: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq gain as Powell endorses quarter-point rate hike.