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A number of Wall Street’s largest banks remain bullish on electric vehicle maker Rivian, predicting the company can still become Tesla’s next major competitor despite the stock’s massive surge since its blockbuster IPO in early November.
Rivian founder RJ Scaringe.
Important facts
A handful of big companies started reporting on Rivian on Monday, with several predicting the electric vehicle maker could indeed be the real deal and eventually compete with billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla.
“We see it as ‘those’ who can challenge Tesla,” wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, quoting Rivian’s convincing product, the good management team, access to capital and the strategic relationship with Amazon.
The company argues that Rivian has an advantage in an “unaddressed” area of the market with its electric vans, setting a target price of $ 147 on the stock, roughly 35% above Rivian’s current price.
Several other firms, including Bank of America, Piper Sandler, Deutsche Bank and Mizuho, also remain bullish about the company’s business plan and attractive product, according to recent analyst notes.
However, some Wall Street banks have given no buy ratings and remain Rivian neutral: Goldman Sachs analysts, for example, believe that despite the company’s huge growth potential, some of its benefits are “offset by the full valuation”.
JPMorgan, which also initiated coverage with a neutral rating, argued that Rivian’s “overwhelming” growth prospects are offset by the significant capital requirements to fund that growth and a high valuation that “is clearly already pricing in a lot”.