I am no fortune teller, but I warned you about investing in Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE). The company has finally filed for bankruptcy, and has also received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq. However, investors who did not pay heed to my recommendation to sell this stock have now lost all their money.
Of course, the future is electric vehicles, and we will see EVs proliferate all across the world. But that doesn’t mean that every EV maker will see success. Indeed, there are a few EV stocks to sell, for investors looking to take profits or trim losses.
Currently, the EV market is expected to see explosive growth over the next decade. However, I think there is a need to be cautious. With rising competition, it’s becoming clearer that margins may not be what the once were. Only a few players will make it.
With that said, let’s dive into three EV stocks to sell in July before they crash.
Lucid (LCID)
EV maker Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) hasn’t had a smooth journey of late. However, the company has been in the news lately for its partnership with Aston Martin (OTCMKTS:ARGGY).
While many see this partnership as an opportunity for the company to raise funding, I do not think this deal will change the company’s fortunes. One thing to note is that both partners are loss-producing enterprises. Aston Martin reported a loss of £495m in 2022, which was double that of the previous year. The company is set to invest $232 million via cash and ordinary shares in Lucid.
Over the last year, LCID stock has dropped 60%, now trading at around $7 per share, which is very close to its 52-week low. If you want to go short the EV sector in July, start with LCID stock. Lucid could only deliver 1,406 units in the first quarter this year, and aims to deliver 10,000 units in 2023. However, this goal seems overly ambitious to me, and I doubt that the company can achieve it.
The company needs cash, recently raising $3 billion from an equity offering, which diluted existing shareholders. Additionally, Lucid has pivoted into the Chinese market, and this also doesn’t look like a positive sign to me. The Chinese market is already saturated and Lucid’s entry doesn’t seem well-timed.
I do not see LCID stock recovering in any meaningful way this year. The company may have a cash buffer, but if it continues to burn more than it earns, the company will be in trouble.
Rivian (RIVN)
Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) also doesn’t have a lot of trouble with raising capital, but it still has a long way to go.
While Rivian is doing better than Lordsdown and Lucid, it still produced more vehicles than it sold, a sign that its vehicles may not be in high demand. Rivian has a solid backlog, which will lead to revenue in the short-term. However, a company cannot sustain itself over the long-haul based on a backlog from one point in time. This backlog will need to grow, and given strong competition in this space from other more mature EV makers, I’m cautious with respect to Rivian’s ability to grow its backlog.
Rivian reported an operating loss of $1.4 billion in the first quarter, meaning it will take a long time for the company to show profitability. It aims to produce 1 million vehicles by 2030 and 50,000 this year, but I think the goal is too ambitious. Remember, in the first quarter, Rivian only produced 9,395 vehicles, delivering 7,946. Currently, RIVN stock is trading just shy of $20 per share today and is up significantly over the past month. However, RIVN stock is also trading at roughly half its 52-week high of $40. This also means that there could be upside potential, but the stock looks really risky right now.
Nikola (NKLA)
A pure-play EV stock, Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) tried to become a leader in the industry by electrifying the class 8 heavy truck segment. While the goal was highly-ambitious, the company was indeed taking the right steps.
Nikola did deliver battery electric trucks last year, and generated $50 million in revenue. However, I think the company will need a lot of capital to keep going. The management did not provide 2023 delivery projections, but it has 178 orders for hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. That said, Nikola has paused production after massive quarterly losses.
At the end of March, Nikola had only $130 million in cash and the company is looking to raise funding. This is a huge risk for the EV company at this stage. While it is still an early-stage player in the industry, Nikola still looks too risky to me. It’s likely that this trend of running out of money and being forced to sell more stock to raise capital will continue.
Thus, now may be the time to avoid an EV calamity by selling NKLA stock right now.
On the date of publication, Vandita Jadeja did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
