VinFast Auto
stock has a new Bull.
BTIG analyst Greg Lewis launched coverage of the Vietnamese electric vehicles start-up on Wednesday with a Buy rating and a $10 share price target.
He sees the company breaking even on an Ebitda basis by 2026 as sales grow from roughly $1.3 billion in 2023 to about $7 billion in 2026. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Growth, and eventual profitability, make VinFast one of the winners in his mind.
The bullish call has shares on the move. VinFast stock was up about 2.3% in premarket trading Wednesday at $7.21 a share, while
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
futures were down 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
VinFast stock dropped almost 16% on Tuesday, the first trading day of the new year, as investors sold shares of many EV start-ups. It seemed to be a case of taking profits.
Rivian Automotive
stock dropped more than 10% on Wednesday after the company reported solid production numbers. It was a steep drop, but shares were up more than 30% over the month coming into the report
VinFast stock has been exceptionally volatile since the company raised money in a SPAC merger that closed in August. Shares have moved an average of about 11% up or down daily since the merger. Volatility has come down a little, but shares have still moved an average of 4%, up or down, a day for the past month.
The SPAC merger valued VinFast stock at $10 a share, or about $23 billion. Now that’s Lewis’ fair price, too.
VinFast shares traded as high as $93 in a postmerger frenzy, that valued the stock at more than $210 billion. Shares have traded as low as $4.59 s share valuing the company at less than $11 billion.
More Wall Street analysts picking up coverage should help tamp down volatility even more. Four analysts cover the stock now. All four rate shares Buy and the average analyst price target is $10 a share. Price targets range from $7 to $12.
Four is still a low number. Rivian, which has a market capitalization of about $20 billion, has 27 analysts covering the stock, according to FactSet.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
Read the full article here
