To The Moon

If you have invested $500 in Rivian in 2021, the investment would be worth just $51 today! Despite embarking on drastic cost-cutting measures and layoff, its outlook remains gloomy as it struggles with slowing EV demands. Nevertheless, that has not stopped the EV maker from receiving an upgrade for its stock from "sell" to "hold" from UBS, after the stock is perceived to have been oversold. However, should the next-generation EV launches by $Rivian Automotive, Inc.(RIVN)$   be well received by the market, short-sellers might be forced to cover their short positions, triggering a recovery of the stock price. Having considerable short interests, RIVN may be ripe as the next short-squeeze target by the meme community.

Elon Musk’s compensation has been hotly contested this year. The market is also going to be watching $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$  's coming annual general meeting on 13 June whether shareholders would still back his pay package, after it was struck down by a US court countering that the EV market leader’s board had not been fully transparent with shareholders when they structured the deal. Elon Musk had threatened to build products outside of Tesla if he could increase his equity holdings in the company, something the pay deal would allow him to do. This is poised to impede Tesla's growth that has revolved around Elon Musk. Until the dust settles, stock of Tesla is likely going to be weighed down by poor market sentiments.

Likewise, EV demand is softening in China with narrowing profit margins amidst price war in the EV market. This is not helped by a patchy Chinese economy recovery and intensifying competition marked not least by the latest entry of the electronics powerhouse Xiaomi. Furthermore, with increasing competition from a growing number of conventional car makers jumping onto the EV bandwagon, I can't help but wonder if the Chinese EV trio $NIO-SW(09866)$ , $XPENG-W(09868)$  and $LI AUTO-W(02015)$   will ever regain their past glories.