Mizuho Analyst Remains Bullish On The EV Sector; Finds Rivian Better Positioned

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh reiterated his Buy ratings on Rivian Automotive, Inc RIVN and the $65 price target.
He saw RIVN as a pure play and a strong early mover in the EV market, focusing on the higher-growth SUV and light truck market and a robust commercial vehicle roadmap beginning with Amazon.Com, Inc. AMZN.
Rivian is also poised to benefit from improving costs with scale and a well-laid-out path towards further vertical integration giving more control to the production and delivery of vehicles, in the analyst's view.
Rakesh maintained his Buy rating and cut his price target for NIO Inc NIO to $40 (before $42).
He sees NIO's value leadership in the premium EV segment with solid battery technology and ADAS roadmaps as growth drivers. Its core business, focused on domestic China, is another advantage with regulatory support and market familiarity. Global expansion is in the works, and we believe it will become a meaningful contributor to future growth.
He maintained his Buy rating and cut his estimates and price target for Tesla Inc TSLA to $370 (previous $391.67).
He sees TSLA continuing to be a leader in the EV market with improving battery technology, a strong ADAS/AD roadmap, and an emerging player in energy storage.
With Rivian, Tesla, and NIO announcing production and delivery numbers, the analyst had a first look into the September quarter.
He believes the September quarter mainly was in-line, supply and logistics remain challenging, and he continues to see strong demand with a multi-year electrification transition underway and led by China.
He believes China EV penetration exiting the September quarter could be close to 25-30%+ of auto sales.
TSLA deliveries were up 42% Y/Y to 343.8k units, though short of the consensus of ~363k, with TSLA noting logistics challenges.
NIO deliveries were ~31.6k units, up 29% Y/Y, ~ in in-line with the guide of ~32k units but shy of ~33.1k consensus.
RIVN deliveries were ~6.6k, in-line with the consensus of ~6.7k, and he believed above overall expectations with C22E production remaining on track for ~25k units.
Despite some near-term challenges, he continues to see vertically-integrated EV companies TSLA, RIVN, and NIO well-positioned with secular growth drivers as legacy auto OEMs struggle to balance ICE and EV portfolios.
Also Read: Tesla To $370? Plus HC Wainwright Slashes PT On This Stock By 67%
Price Action: RIVN shares traded higher by 1.11% at $36.52 on the last check Thursday.

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