EV Week In Review: Tesla'a Musk Walks The Talk, Nio's Forward Commentary Appeases Street, Rivian Sizzles With Its IPO, Lordstown Hit By Further Delay

Earnings were front and center, catalyzing stock moves in the week ending Nov. 12, while Tesla, Inc. TSLA wilted in reaction to CEO Elon Musk's bizarre move, asking his Twitter followers to vote on his proposed stock sale. The EV maker's shares were down in all but one session of the week.

Positive sell-side commentary and Rivian Automotive, Inc.'s RIVN Wall Street debut, meanwhile, served as upward catalysts for stocks in the space.

Here are the key events that happened in the EV sector during the week:

Musk Offloads Stake, Back-to-Back Model Y Price Hike and More: The Tesla CEO kept up his word that he would abide by the results of a Twitter poll that he ran, seeking feedback for his proposal to sell 10% of his Tesla shares.

With the latest transactions reported on Friday, Musk's cumulative sales of Tesla shares for the week amounted to about $5.7 billion, translating to roughly about 5.6% of his stake.

The stock bled through the week and ended at its lowest level since Oct. 27.

Tesla once again hiked the price of its Model Y SUV in the U.S., raising it by $1,000 this time. Earlier this month, the company announced a price increase of similar magnitude. The move apparently is due to the cost pressure the company is facing due to supply constraints. The price hikes, however, haven't cut into demand. Estimated delivery time of the Model Y Performance variant in the U.S. is Jan. 2022, while that for the Model Y Long Range is June 2022.

Even as Tesla is pushing ahead with its FSD beta rollouts, a posting on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's official page for the 2021 Model Y gave details of the first reported FSD beta crash.

The complaint claimed that the driver attempted to take control of the Model Y while it was in FSD Beta, but the vehicle fought for control and forced itself into the incorrect lane.

Nio Reports Mixed Q3 But Investors Aren't Worried: Nio, Inc. NIO announced forecast-beating third-quarter revenues this week and bottom-line results. A sore spot, however, was a contraction in vehicle margin relative to the previous quarter. The company also issued below-consensus revenue guidance for the fourth quarter.

Investors are sold on the idea of Nio coming back stronger in 2022, thanks to multiple catalysts, including an additional international foray, new model launches and a pickup in deliveries momentum.

Related Link: Why BofA Projects Upside For EV Stocks Tesla, Lucid, Fisker And Nio

XPeng Teases A New Model: Nio's peer XPeng, Inc. XPEV is on a roll with its product launches. Friday, the company said it will unveil its new smart EV model at the 19th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition on Nov. 19. The company launched its third mass-produced model P5 – a family sedan – earlier this year.

Lordstown Roller-coaster Ride: Lordstown Motors Corp. RIDE shares advanced strongly on Thursday after it announced the sale of its Ohio plant to Apple, Inc. AAPL supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. HNHPF. The very next day, the company announced a delay in the launch of its Endurance EV pickup truck, sending its share spiraling downwards.

Rivian Makes A Strong Debut: The EV maker priced an initial public offering at $78 a share, raising about $12 billion at an IPO valuation of about $77 billion. The stock has tacked on over 60% from the IPO price over three trading sessions.

EV Charging Stocks Fired Up: EV charging stocks received a shot in the arm this week from earnings reports and the Biden administrations' $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The bill includes a $7.5 billion investment in an EV charging network of 500,000 chargers across the U.S. Blink Charging Co. BLNK was among the top performers of the week after reporting its quarterly results.

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

Related Link: Why BofA Projects Upside For EV Stocks Tesla, Lucid, Fisker And Nio