The Electric Vehicle theme has been at the heart of the bull market we have seen in stocks over the past 10 months, and for good reason. Tesla’s remarkable success in scaling production with margins and credits to produce a formula for seeming long-term success has helped to massively raise the profile of the industry.
In addition, the clear movement toward ESG investing, and its focus on sustainable energy and the climate change agenda – and the massive resonance these themes have with younger consumers, who will define the marketplace over coming years and even decades – has all combined into a recipe for huge gains in the market.
But the often undervalued piece of this equation is in powering this revolution – the technology and resources necessary to drive an EV battery industry capable of fueling the next stage in this evolutionary transition.
With that in mind, we take a look at some of the most interesting opportunities in the space, including: Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), BYD Company ADR (OTCMKTS:BYDDY), KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR), and Quantumscape Corp (NYSE:QS).
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) frames itself as a company that develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Lithium, Bromine Specialties, and Catalysts.
The Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and value-added lithium specialties, as well as reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for applications in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes, life science, pharmaceutical, and other markets.
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) just recently announced that the company’s CEO Kent Masters has signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge.
“We are committed to a culture where our values are clear, all are welcome to collaborate and contribute, and our differences are celebrated as a competitive advantage,” said Masters. “We know that great change comes with great dedication. Through this pledge and our collective commitment to our values and our action plan, we will use the power of diversity and inclusion to strengthen Albemarle and our communities.”
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of ALB taking a hit in recent action, down about -5% over the past week. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -10%.
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) managed to rope in revenues totaling $879.1M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of -11.4%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($746.7M against $1.8B, respectively).
BYD Company ADR (OTCMKTS:BYDDY) is another name in the EV space that has been skyrocketing higher in recent action. Backed by Warren Buffet, BYD is linked to KULR (below) through shared advisory/co-founder relationships.
BYDDY trumpets itself as “the largest supplier of rechargeable batteries on the planet and has the largest market share for Nickel-cadmium batteries, handset Li-ion batteries, cell-phone chargers, and keypads worldwide.”
BYD Company ADR (OTCMKTS:BYDDY) continues to grow. According to the China Passenger Car Association, around 169,000 New Energy Vehicles (BEVs, PHEVs and FCEVs) were sold in China in November, 136.5 per cent more than in the same month last year.
Most electric vehicles sold last month were SAIC GM Wuling (SGMW), BYD and Tesla. The three automakers account for nearly half of the country’s NEV sales: SAIC GM Wuling reported 36,070 electric vehicles sold in November, BYD 26,015 units and Tesla 21,604 electric cars. According to media reports, BYD represents a 138 per cent improvement over the same month last year.
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of BYDDY taking a hit in recent action, down about -12% over the past week. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -10%.
BYD Company ADR (OTCMKTS:BYDDY) managed to rope in revenues totaling $64B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of -0.3%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($14.5B against $111.1B, respectively).
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) is an emerging player in the EV battery space. The company’s advisory board features the co-founder of the BYD (covered just above), which is backed by Warren Buffet (as covered on CNBC and logged via BusinessWire).
KULR has positioned itself as an interesting battery platform game-changer. The company develops, manufactures and licenses next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems. It is basically a hedge for L-Ion battery technology by removing downside risk for EV manufacturers through beneficially shifting the probability of negative battery events.
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) offers lithium-ion battery thermal runaway shields; fiber thermal interface materials; phase change material heatsinks; HYDRA TRS battery storage bags; internal short circuit device; and CRUX cathodes. Its technologies are used in electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and energy storage and 5G communication technologies.
The company recently announced that it has provided thermal management design services to a global Tier-1 manufacturer of aerospace and defense technology to improve thermal subsystems needed for increased performance of hypersonic weapons.
“As the national need for long-range airborne vehicles grows, and commercial demonstrations like Space X continue to show the viability of reusable space and sub-orbital vehicles, active and passive heat management become increasingly critical elements to mission success,” says Dave Harden, founder and CEO of The Outpost and KULR advisory board member. “KULR’s closed loop core cooling technology, along with its problem-solving team, are rapidly establishing themselves as essential building blocks for hypersonics, space vehicles, long range stand-off weapons and long loiter drones.”
If you’re long this stock, then you’re liking how it has responded in recent action. KULR shares have been moving higher over recent days, pushing about 20% to the upside on above average trading volume.
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) is an early-stage more speculative player, but with growing exposure and a widening base of core industry ties. The big commercial performance is still out in front of this one provided the execution is there.
Quantumscape Corp (NYSE:QS) trumpets itself as a company that leads in the development of next generation solid-state lithium-metal batteries for use in electric vehicles. \
QuantumScape’s mission is to revolutionize energy storage to enable a sustainable future.
Quantumscape Corp (NYSE:QS) most recently announced its financial results for its fourth quarter and full year 2020, which ended December 31, 2020. The company posted a net loss of $694.7 million, or $2.41 a share, and an adjusted operating loss of $22.4 million. A year ago, the net loss was $14.3 million, or 6 cents a share.
“I am delighted to issue QuantumScape’s first quarterly letter as a publicly traded company. We encourage you to read it, as we believe it will help foster a better understanding of our company and recent developments as we look to the future,” said Jagdeep Singh, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of QuantumScape.
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 19% in that time. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 30% in that time on strong overall action. Quantumscape Corp (NYSE:QS) had no reported sales in its last quarterly financial data. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($0 against $0, respectively).
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