Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) have risen by 7.07 percent over the past week and nearly 22 percent over the past month as competitive offerings from other automakers increased in price and federal electric vehicle incentives point toward positive repercussions for the Detroit-based automaker.
Over the past five days, GM’s stock has appreciated by over 7 percent, with the biggest gains coming on Wednesday when shares closed up over 4%. Today, shares are up another 1.13 percent as of 3:30 p.m. ET. Analysts are pointing to a variety of reasons that are pushing the stock higher, including news of new EV incentives that could include many of the company’s current and future models and the news that Ford has increased F-150 Lightning prices.
The Motley Fool points out two primary forces on the stock. Most notably, Ford’s price increase for the F-150 Lighting makes the vehicle far more expensive at the base price than the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV that still advertises itself at a base price of $39,990 without a “destination charge.” As the transaction values of electric vehicles have increased by over 18 percent in the past year, it is unclear whether GM will increase the Silverado EV’s introductory pricing.
Full-size trucks have always been a close competition between the two brands, especially in terms of price. It is unclear if Ford will continue to sell the Lightning at the increased price if GM is able to sell the Silverado EV at the sub-$40,000 price tag, or if GM will be forced to raise prices, matching Ford’s offering.
The second force the Motley Fool notes is the details surrounding the upcoming EV tax incentives. This revised incentive plan includes many stipulations that could prevent foreign manufacturers and even some domestic models from recieving incentives. Foremost is the requirement of domestic assembly, but other requirements include amounts of battery materials and parts being domestically sourced and price and income limitations for models and buyers, respectively. These new requirements could mean that some GM products could receive a federal incentive when they hit the market.
However, GM does have significant hurdles to cross as they enter the EV market more substantially. They lag behind Ford and Rivian in truck sales and will face ramping production issues and recalls as they introduce multiple new models (much like other legacy manufacturers). As consumers wait for the Chevy Silverado EV, Blazer EV, and Equinox EV, they still lack a commercial electric van offering, a market Ford now dominates. Finally, they will likely face a bottleneck, not in their production but sourcing many battery components domestically as many manufacturers look to do the same.
Nonetheless, many investors are optimistic that GM will be able to solve these issues, hence the recent stock appreciation. It would also not be the first time GM defied the odds. The company was a leader with its introduction of the Chevy Bolt in 2015, and it could once again lead the market in affordable EV offerings.
Disclosure: William Johnson has no ownership of $GM stock.
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