Tesla Inc (TSLA)

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Electric Vehicle Checkpoint: Ford Gains Ground on Tesla
By: TheStreet | August 5, 2021

• See the latest news for the top stocks in the electric vehicle space including NIO, General Motors, Lordstown Motors, Li Auto, and more.

Chinese electric vehicle stocks, including NIO (NIO), Li Auto (LI) and Xpeng (XPEV), continued the rebound from their July 21-27 drop, even as other U.S.-listed China stocks fell.

Fear of stringent Chinese regulation is depressing non-EV stocks. But China hasn’t made much noise about cracking down on EV makers. It’s an industry the government would like to dominate. So it may have no desire to put the hammer down on EV companies, and that’s likely buttressing their shares.

When it comes to U.S. EV stocks, Tesla (TSLA) is the big daddy, of course, wrote TheStreet's Dan Weil. But, Ford Motor (F) is gaining ground in the U.S. EV market. The company lifted its 2021 forecast following a surprise second-quarter profit that defied supply constraints linked to the global semiconductor shortage.

Tesla's founder Elon Musk warned investors that the global shortage in semiconductor supplies remains "quite serious" and could impact production rates over the second half of the year, adding that volume growth will depend on the availability of other parts in the global supply chain.

"The chip supply is fundamentally the governing factor on our output," Musk told investors, "It is difficult for us to say how long this will last because [it's] out of our control essentially. It does seem like it's getting better, but it's hard to predict."

SpaceX, the rocket company owned by Musk, won a round in a legal dispute over Texas property. Oil regulators voted unanimously in Musk's favor in a dispute over land being used to build the Starbase complex near the border with Mexico.

The Railroad Commission of Texas voted 3-0 to designate SpaceX's Lone Star Mineral Development unit as the operator of inactive oil and natural gas wells on 24 acres. That land is being developed to support the entrepreneur's rocket-launch facility near the mouth of the Rio Grande, Bloomberg reported.

On Tuesday, SpaceX tweeted photos of Starship's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy. "Installing Starship booster engines for first orbital flight," it said in a post that included a photo of the rocket, with Musk holding his young son.

In March, the SpaceX prototype of its Starship SN11, which is being designed for an eventual trip to Mars, crashed during a landing attempt.

There are recent hints from Musk indicating that he wishes to take a less active role in running Tesla. On July 30, in response to a tweet, Musk replied, "I don't want to be the CEO of anything," following a revelation last week that Musk will no longer participate in Tesla earnings conference calls "unless there's something really important that I need to say." Why would this be positive for the company? asks Real Money's Ed Ponsi.

Jim Cramer spoke with Tesla Daily host and Tesla investor Rob Maurer about the electric vehicle maker's earnings. The company posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings this past week.

The shares were not performing well, however, prompting Cramer to ask "is somehow the magic lost, because this wasn’t the quarter?"

"I’m a little bit surprised honestly," Mauer said, "because I think Tesla did crush it. Maybe some of the comments on the earnings call weren’t investors looking for ... I’m definitely super-happy with the results personally."

Here is a list of the electric vehicle stocks to watch:

Tesla

It took a few days for Tesla to find its groove after reporting its better-than-expected results, but the stock is now trading much better on the long side. Perhaps it’s the company’s exposure to Bitcoin helping to give it a lift, write TheStreet's Bret Kenwell.

The electric vehicle giant shares traded at a three-month high Monday even as investors parse messages from founder Elon Musk that may question his future as group CEO. Tesla posted a record net income of $1.142 billion for the three months ending in June as revenues rose 98% from last year to $11.96 billion and deliveries hit an all-time high of 201,250 vehicles.

TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Tesla as a Hold with a rating score of C.

Ford Motor

Ford Motor delivered its quarterly results this past week, sailing past expectations and providing better-than-expected guidance. The company said adjusted earnings for the full year would come in between $9 billion and $10 billion, a massive boost from its prior forecast of around $5.5 billion, and said sales could rise as much as 30% compared to first-half volumes.

Ford is a long-term holding of Real Money's Stephan Guilfoyle. After the company reported earnings, Guilfoyle feels bullish on this stock. Looking at the fundamental thesis, it boils down to one thing and that's the fact that dealerships are talking about Ford's EV entrance, but not about Tesla's cars...

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