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Tesla shares have roughly doubled this year so far.
Rivian Automotive
and Tesla are both preparing to report their third-quarter deliveries. Rivian is more likely to beat consensus expectations than Tesla but both electric-vehicle stocks are worth having in your portfolio, according to analysts at Baird.
Tesla
’s
(ticker: TSLA) delivery expectations have been muddied by temporary factory shutdowns during the quarter and questions regarding demand, Baird’s Ben Kallo noted. He is forecasting 439,200 vehicle deliveries for the quarter for Tesla, down 6% from the prior quarter. The consensus view among analysts tracked by FactSet is 462,000 units.
However, strong demand in China for the refreshed Model 3 vehicle is likely to give a longer-term boost to sales, despite a difficult environment for selling new vehicles, Kallo wrote. He also said higher prices for the Model 3 and Model Y should support margins. He kept his $300 target price and Outperform rating on Tesla stock.
Tesla shares were down 0.7% at $245.30 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
“We continue to believe Tesla is best positioned among its peers and recommend [it] as a top pick for 2H23 [the second half of 2023],” the Baird analyst said.
Rivian
(RIVN) is a comparative minnow alongside Tesla, but Kallo is optimistic it can surprise the market with its own deliveries. Rivian is expected to deliver around 14,000 units for the September quarter, according to a FactSet consensus.
“We are designating Rivian as a bullish Fresh Pick into Q3 deliveries which we expect will beat consensus. Concerns regarding third party reports of weakening demand have led to recent weakness in the stock and we believe underlying demand remains strong with production improving,” Kallo wrote.
An inflection point for Rivian could come next year when it gives more details about its planned R2 production platform, as well as upgrading the production capacity of its existing R1 factory, the analyst said.
Baird has a $30 target price and Outperform rating on Rivian stock. Rivian was down 0.9% at $20.95 in premarket trading Tuesday.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com