Morgan Stanley analyst and Tesla Inc TSLA bull Adam Jonas believes a partnership between the U.S. EV giant and Chinese battery maker CATL could be a game-changer with the ‘power-couple’ potentially recharging the U.S. EV market.
What Happened: Jonas believes that the U.S. EV market is in dire need of high-quality cheaper batteries for which it needs to rely on China despite the complicated geopolitics and security concerns. While the U.S. EV market is under-penetrated, China’s is highly penetrated with an oversupply of batteries, he noted.
The analyst was referring to recent reports that CATL is working with Tesla on a fast-charging battery in Nevada. Neither of the two companies have confirmed the report.
However, the U.S. EV giant is looking to make a cheaper EV, expected to be priced around $25,000, and would require Chinese cooperation to enable this price point, as per Jonas. Currently, CATL cannot sell directly into the U.S. but can license their battery tech for a royalty fee.
“We’ve long written about the need for the US to engage with (‘on-ramp’) Chinese EV technology to drive higher EV penetration. In our view, this will require a degree of westernization of Chinese tech to be palatable in the US given the rising protectionist sentiment (both in the US and Europe),” the note read.
Jonas has a price target of $320 on Tesla and an ‘overweight’ rating.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed up 2.92% at $177.67 on Tuesday. The stock is down nearly 28.5% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro.
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