The boom in EV stocks that started in March 2020 and continued till February 2021 has now clearly ended. The boom was driven by optimism of some sort of "Green New Deal" passing, a bull market in growth stocks, and excitement about EVs displacing gas-powered vehicles over the next decade.
Now, we are in a much more mature phase as higher-quality companies are trending higher, while lower-quality ones stay pinned to the mat. One consequence of the bull market was we saw the most gains in the most speculative stocks, many which are years away from production.
Two of the most prominent examples are Lordstown Motors (Nasdaq: RIDE). Recently, Lordstown Motors sold one of its factories to Foxconn for $280 million, who will operate the factory and produce cars for Fisker (Nasdaq: FSR) at the facility. Many see it as an opportunity for Foxconn to prove that it can be the manufacturing car for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) when it releases its own EV. In addition to Fisker, it is courting companies like Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) and PTT for EV production.
According to reports, Apple will require any manufacturing partners to be able to prove that it can handle vehicle manufacturing. It would also help Foxconn go beyond most of its manufacturing projects of lower-margin electronics to higher-value and margin autos. Although, the Apple car is years away from being a reality, and there remain considerable doubts about whether it will happen, Foxconn seems determined to be in contention for its EV manufacturing contract. Currently, Apple accounts for 50% of its revenue.
Following the news, Lordstown shares jumped 8.4% in the U.S., Foxconn declined 1.9% in Taipei and is down about 20% from its 2021 high, while Lordstown is down 79%. For Foxconn, the moved is cheaper and quicker than building a plant from the ground-up.
Lordstown still has no commercial product despite debuting its EV prototype last year. It plans to begin production of an electric pickup in April. This news follows an announcement from Ford (NYSE: F) and South Korea's SK Innovation Co. to invest $11.4 billion in constructing battery factories and an EV manufacturing plant, marking the biggest investment in Ford's history.