Chinese EV automaker XPeng Motors continues expanding its global partnerships list, announcing today five dealer networks in separate new markets to help sell its vehicles. In addition to recent plans to enter markets in Israel, XPeng will also sell EVs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, and more markets in Europe this year.
2024 has the makings to be a tremendous year for XPeng Motors ($XPEV). Already a significant player in China’s EV market, the automaker has set its sights on global expansion in recent years to become a leading name in the worldwide segment.
That expansion began in Europe, starting in Norway in 2021. The automaker now has an EU presence in Denmark, The Netherlands, and Sweden, with more markets to come (more on that below).
Earlier this week, XPeng founder and CEO He Xiaopeng announced plans for the automaker to develop and deliver approximately 30 new and refreshed EV models over the next three years while it continues to expand its reach to new customers worldwide.
With production and operations still headquartered in China, XPeng has sought sales assistance through dealer networks in its foreign markets of Europe. Today, the automaker has announced five similar agreements to bring its EVs to even more regions.
XPeng expands dealer network in Middle East, Europe
XPeng Motors shared details of its five additional dealer agreements in a press release this morning, which entails bringing EVs to each region alongside branded showrooms to educate potential customers. Those new dealer partnerships include help from groups in the UAE (Ali&Sons), Egypt (RAYA), Azerbaijan (SR Group), Jordan (T Gargour and Fils), and Lebanon (Gargour Asia SAL).
With its new dealer partners, XPeng Motors will establish a strategy of EV distribution, sales, and service for customers in those regions, enabled by branded showrooms, after-sales support, and customer guidance throughout the buying process. XPeng’s GM of International Markets, Alex Tang, spoke:
The new markets we are announcing today are recognized globally as the nucleus for EV growth, which makes this the natural and forward-thinking next step in our expansion into the EMEA market. At XPENG, our ambition is to become a leading player in the smart EV sector. We are committed not only to developing products that address local customer needs but also to bringing leading technologies and high quality to global customers.
XPeng says it will begin selling its G6 and G9 SUV models in the UAE beginning in Q3 2024 and unnamed EVs in Jordan and Lebanon in Q2, followed by Egypt in Q3. Following its dealer announcement in late 2023, XPeng has already begun P7 sedan and G9 deliveries in Israel and Azerbaijan.
Looking ahead beyond its new dealer partners in Central Asia and Egypt, XPeng shared expansion plans for additional European markets, including Germany, the UK, Italy, and France. Those EV deliveries are also expected to begin at some point this year.
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We’re initiating a position in Nextracker , buying 350 shares at roughly $48.18. Following Thursday’s trade, Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust will own 350 shares of NXT with a weighting of about 0.5%. Nextracker makes solar tracker systems that allow huge utility-scale rows of solar panels to rotate and follow the sun’s movement across the sky throughout the day, maximizing their power generation. It’s the “backbone” of any solar power system, as management would say. We’re using proceeds from Thursday’s exit of Foot Locker to fund this addition. We’re calling up Nextracker from the Bullpen , viewing its 24% pullback over the past couple of weeks as a good entry point to start a new position. As you can tell by its recent trading, this is a highly volatile name that is sensitive to interest rates and government policy. It’s why we are starting this position on the smaller side, leaving plenty of room to scale over time. Nextracker stands out for its leadership in a fast-growing market. Its original innovation was a single-row tracker technology that allows each row of panels to move independently, rather than all in unison. While this was once considered too expensive, Nextracker was able to lower its input pricing to the point where they’re now much more competitive. Over the years, the company added additional features to its product line of integrated hardware and software. Some of these features include self-powering systems, software that helps improve the energy yield on uneven terrain or bad weather conditions, and equipment that protects solar panels during hail storms, which is one of the leading causes of panel breakage. In response to customers needing something to mitigate hail damage risk, Nextracker developed an industry-first “hail stow” technology. Its most advanced system is fully automated and can provide up to a 75-degree rotation angle. Nextracker is the global market share leader in this space, with the highest-quality and most reliable product with the lowest install cost, operating cost, and levelized cost of energy (LCOE), which is a measure of lifetime costs divided by energy production. Its U.S. business accounts for roughly two-thirds of the company’s revenue. The international market is more competitive and its margins are lower than the corporate average, but the company believes there are opportunities to gain market share and pricing over time. The company reported a strong set of fourth-quarter results in May, with revenues up 42% year over year, much higher than expected, and adjusted EBITDA of $160 million versus $134 million expected. On adjusted earnings, analysts expected the company to make 68 cents per share, but it earned 96 cents per share. NXT YTD mountain Nextracker YTD For the full-year fiscal 2025, Nextracker management guided revenues in line but adjusted EBITDA ahead of estimates and adjusted EPS below estimates at the midpoint. However, some analysts pointed to management’s strong execution since becoming a public company, raising guidance each quarter in fiscal 2024, as a sign that guidance could be conservative. What makes solar, and the renewable industry at large, so appealing is that energy usage has increased dramatically over the past few years, driven by growth in data centers, electrification of appliances and vehicles with the need for more charging stations, and reindustrialization across the United States. It’s one of the reasons why we have been so bullish on Eaton . In a recent note by UBS, the analyst points out that Amazon , Meta , Microsoft , and Google represented 40% of total U.S. utility-scale solar demand over the last five years. Just four companies. Why are they huge buyers? These mega-cap tech companies are committed to 100% renewable power or clean energy. They are committed to decarbonizing. But here’s the thing: their needs may dramatically increase in the years ahead because of AI, which we know uses 10 times more electricity per query than a traditional Google search. And training has much higher power needs than your traditional cloud infrastructure. UBS argues that if these companies are in the early stages of exponential electricity demand growth, we should see demand for renewable projects increase along with it. Most will come from utility-scale solar projects that need tracker systems from either Nextracker or a competitor. Solar projects are a solution to these demand challenges because it is the lowest-cost option for new power. Its why CEO Dan Shugar explained on the last earnings call that solar deployments are accelerating in most of the world. Shugar’s positive view is also based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts of a 5% annual increase in new power generation needs over the next five years, and solar being the fastest growing energy technology with a 26% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. Nextracker’s record backlog of over $4 billion, up from $2.6 billion, surely supports this view. Even with all this growth happening at Nextracker and in the industry at large, we’re talking about a stock that trades at only 16 times the midpoint of its adjusted EPS outlook. If the stock can trade up to 18 times the high end of its full-year earnings guidance, the stock will trade at $55. We’ll set our price target at that level and note it is still $5 below where the stock traded in mid-June. The company has a strong liquidity position, which matters in this industry. Solaredge got slammed Tuesday after offering convertible notes and took down the whole group with it. Last quarter, Nextracker had about $470 million in cash and $150 of debt on the balance sheet and generated more than $400 million of cash flow over the full year. The company is not allowed to pay dividends or repurchase stock until 2026 due to the rules related to the spin from Flex , so what it can do instead build cash and use what’s leftover for disciplined mergers and acquisitions. Last week, it announced it paid $119 million to buy Ojjo, a renewable energy company specializing in foundation technology and services used in utility-scale ground-mount applications for solar power generation. Putting it all together, we are interested in renewables and solar stocks because energy needs are increasing around the world. Nextracker stands out to us in the group because of its technology leadership, strong balance sheet, and track record of execution. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
A massive Tesla Megapack project with 1.3 GWh of energy storage capacity is coming online in Arizona – making it one of the largest battery systems.
Salt River Project (SRP) and Plus Power LLC are behind the massive project.
Yesterday, they announced that it is coming online and should provide enough power for 76,000 homes:
Salt River Project (SRP) and Plus Power LLC today celebrated two new grid-charged battery storage systems, Sierra Estrella Energy Storage and Superstition Energy Storage. Together, these facilities will add 340 megawatts (MW) / 1,360 megawatt-hours (MWh) of additional battery storage capacity to SRP’s system – enough to power 76,000 residential homes for a four-hour period. The batteries will absorb excess energy when customer demand is lower and store it for use during times of peak demand.
By being turned on, it automatically became the largest standalone battery system in Arizona and one of the biggest in the US.
EV maker Rivian (RIVN) reaffirmed its plans to build 57,000 vehicles this year during its 2024 Investor Day. More importantly, Rivian still expects to achieve a positive gross profit by the end of the year.
Rivian still on track for positive gross profit in Q4 2024
Rivian gave us a sneak peek into what we can expect as the EV maker transitions to its next growth stage during its first Investor Day on Thursday.
After launching not one but three products (R1T, R1S, and Commercial Van), Rivian lost over $139,000 on every vehicle built in the third quarter of 2022.
Since then, Rivian has made drastic progress in cutting costs. In the first three months of the year, Rivian lost $38,784 per EV built, an improvement of over $100,000. However, that number is still up from the $32.5K and $30.5K losses in Q2 and Q3, 2023.
Q3 ’22
Q4 ’22
Q1 ’23
Q2 ’23
Q3 ’23
Q4 ’23
Q1 ’24
Rivian loss per vehicle
$139,277
$124,162
$67,329
$32,594
$30,500
$43,372
$38,784
Rivian loss per vehicle by quarter
Rivian shut down its Normal, IL, manufacturing plant in April for a host of upgrades. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, the changes have resulted in “significant” cost reductions.
As a result, Rivian expects to achieve its first positive gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024. On Thursday, Rivian reaffirmed that it’s on track to hit the milestone by the end of the year.
Rivian believes that, between significant material and labor cost reductions, it will be enough as it strives to earn a profit.
2024 production goal in sight
Rivian also confirmed it’s on track to build 57,000 vehicles this year. Despite production slipping in Q1 (13,980 vs 17,541 in Q4 2023), Rivian expected a slowdown with the planned plant shutdown.
The EV maker expects lower production in Q2 between 9,100 and 9,300 units. Second-quarter deliveries are forecasted to be between 13,000 and 13,300, slightly lower than the 13,588 handed over in Q1.
Rivian expects to ramp production in the second half of the year. Following the R2 launch in early 2026, it expects production capacity to reach 215,000 units.
Once Rivian’s Georgia plant opens, output is expected to surge with 200,000 production capacity on line 1 and another 200,000 on line 2.
Rivian’s new partnership with Volkswagen earned it new confidence as its stock surged over 20%. Several analysts praised the move, including Dan Ives from Wedbush. Ives said the deal can “change the game for Rivian” on its path to profitability.