Tesla's relentless surge propels EV peers amid growing optimism

The rally in electric-vehicle stocks received a fresh boost of confidence on Monday from Wedbush Securities, which said there is now a “major inflection" in EV demand globally.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives raised his best-case price target on Tesla to $1,000 from $800, reflecting a 104% premium to Friday’s close. Tesla shares rose as much as 6.7% Monday, touching an all-time high of $522.22. The shares have set fresh records in two of the last three trading days.

Smaller upstarts followed suit, with Nio Inc., Workhorse Group Inc., Nikola Corp., Lordstown Motors Corp., XPeng Inc., Li Auto Inc. and Ayro Inc. all rallying and far outperforming the broader market’s gains. The EV supply chain and other related stocks also benefited, with shares of financial technology firm Ideanomics Inc. jumping as much as 87%. The company’s EV division provides group purchasing discounts on commercial vehicles, and it said Monday morning that it’s increased its stake in e-tractor company Solectrac Inc.

While many electric-vehicle stocks attracted investor attention earlier this year, the rally reached a fever pitch last week after it was announced Tesla will soon become a part of the S&P 500 Index, suggesting index investment is gaining momentum. A strong focus on EV adoption in China and US President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to develop the industry also helped sentiment, as evident in a surge of new companies trying to enter the public markets.

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