Al Root
Thursday is another disastrous day for shares of EV start-ups, but one is doing a lot better because investors are focused on something else.
Shares of the special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition were up 25% at $16.55 at one point in early trading Thursday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1.5% and 2.2% respectively. Strong earnings from Nvidia were helping the entire market. Nvidia stock was up almost 16% in early trading.
L Catterton Asia Acquisition is now, or will be in a matter of hours, Lotus Technology. The EV start-up sells all-electric vehicles as well as sports cars made by Lotus Cars, a separate U.K.-based company.
The merger closes officially on Thursday, while the stock symbol will change from "LCAA" to "LOT" on Friday, so it isn't surprising that the price is moving. SPAC-related stocks can often be volatile around the closing of mergers.
VinFast Auto stock, for example, went from roughly $10 to more than $90 a share in August around the closing of its merger. Shares were at $5.15 in early trading Thursday.
As of 11:20 a.m. Eastern, L. Catterton shares had settled down somewhat, showing a loss of about 8%. Still, that leaves the shares up about 30% for the week.
That is very different performance from shares of other EV start-ups. Rivian Automotive stock was down about 28% in morning trading, for a loss of about 32% for the week. Lucid shares were down about 20% -- leaving them down that much for the week. On Wednesday evening, both companies reported their fourth-quarter earnings, issuing disappointing production forecasts for 2024.
Investors in Lotus just aren't thinking about deliveries and demand yet. They are thinking about the merger closing and the new capital it will bring into the company.
Based on shares outstanding assuming the closing of the merger, Lotus Technology -- the merged company's name -- has a market capitalization of about $8 billion. The figures for Lucid and Rivian are about $7 billion and roughly $11 billion, respectively.
Eventually, investors will watch deliveries and earnings for Lotus, just like for any company. But for that to happen, Wall Street analysts will have to pick up coverage and Lotus Technology will have to start reporting results, a process that will take weeks, if not months.
For now, investors have to brace for more stock volatility in the coming days.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2024 12:17 ET (17:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments