Deutsche Bank Raises Rivian Price Target to $23

Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla, Wall Street's newest darling Rivian, traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GMand Fordto the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with "Charged," a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.Clickto check out Tesla's recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.BEYOND EVS:Tigress Financial resumed coverage of Tesla with a Buy rating and $550 price target. The firm sees long-term growth and value creation "increasingly" being driven by Tesla's evolution from a pure-play EV manufacturer into "a multi-layered physical AI platform." The firm sees "the physical AI growth flywheel" being driven by expanding Full Self Drive subscriptions, robotaxis, and Optimus humanoid robots to stack on top of "an already sizable and profitable EV and energy base," Tigress tells investors.CHINA SALES:Tesla's domestic sales in China collapsed 45% year-over-year in January, falling to just 18,485 units, the automaker's lowest monthly retail figure in the country since November 2022, Electrek's Fred Lambert. The data, released today by the China Passenger Car Association, paints a grim picture of Tesla's demand in the world's largest EV market, the author adds.CHINA-U.S. CAR PARTNERSHIPS:FordCEO Jim Farley spoke with senior White House officials about a potential roadmap for Chinese car makers to manufacture vehicles in the U.S. by partnering with American car companies, Bloomberg's David Welch, Keith Naughton, and Jenny Leonard, citing people familiar with the discussions. The rough framework that was talked about between Farley and Trump administration cabinet members last month would let Chinese automakers build vehicles in the U.S. through joint ventures with domestic automakers in which the U.S. firm holds a controlling interest, the authors say. Other publicly traded companies in the space include BYD, Geely, General Motors, Honda, Lucid Group, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyotaand Volkswagen.RESULTS:Shares of Rivian outperformed last week after the company reported Q4 losses per share of (66c) vs consensus of (79c), and Q4 revenue of $1.29B vs consensus of $1.27B. Rivian sees FY26 vehicle delivery between 62K-67K and FY26 adjusted EBITDA of ($1.21B)-($1.80B).Deutsche Bank upgraded Rivian to Buy from Hold with a price target of $23, up from $16, following the Q4 report. The firm sees early signs the company's "prospects are inflecting." Rivian's 2026 looks "de-risked" as volume expectations are "reasonable" and its vehicle costs continue to improve, Deutsche tells investors in a research note. The firm says the R2 launch is on track for Q2 at a time when competitors are "slow walking" their electric vehicle transitions. Deutsche sees an attractive risk/reward at current share levels. UBS also upgraded Rivian but to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $16, up from $15, following quarterly results.Meanwhile, DA Davidson analyst Michael Shlisky downgraded Rivian to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $14, down from $15. The stock jumped 27% on Friday due to positive tone of the R2 launch, but the firm believe that R1 outlook was below its expectations while also noting that R2 launch is not "without significant risks", the analyst tells investors in a research note. To make its current outlook, Rivian will have to deliver the best mid-size EV launch since 2021 without the benefit of tax credits or a mass-channel dealer network, DA Davidson added.2009 GREENHOUSE GAS ENDANGERMENT FINDING:U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in aon X, formerly Twitter, "In the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history, President Trump and I are now announcing the repeal of the 2009 Obama EPA Endangerment Finding, ALL vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards that followed, and ALL off-cycle credits that include the much-despised start-stop feature in vehicles. This action will save over $1.3 TRILLION in costs for Americans!"BUY ENERGY FUELS:Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Energy Fuelswith a Buy rating and $30 price target. The company owns and operates the highest-grade uranium deposit in the U.S. as well as the White Mesa Mill, which is a key competitive advantage for the company as it is the only processing facility in the U.S. that is able to process both uranium and rare earth elements, the firm tells investors in a research note. Goldman added that the company maintains a portfolio of three heavy mineral sands assets that aim to come online over the next five years.