Excluding Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), it has been a tough year for electric vehicle (EV) stocks — or EV stocks. Xpeng (NASDAQ:XPEV) is among the names that have been struggling. However, with Tuesday’s rally, XPEV stock is actually now up on the year.
Xpeng stock is now up about 2% so far in 2023. Just a few days ago, shares were down more than 20%. However, the stock went on a five-day winning streak, erasing a bulk of its year-to-date gains.
While bulls now have some hope, it looks like Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood is taking advantage of the recent pop. Wood used the opportunity to sell more than 128,000 shares of XPEV stock on March 27. She also reportedly sold shares of Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU).
Going back through the archives, Ark unloaded a large portion of its holdings in Xpeng back in January. The most recent rally was used to lighten up even more.
XPEV Stock, Other EV Names Continue to Struggle
The recent rally in XPEV stock may have gotten it back to flat on the year, but it’s struggled badly. Over the last year, shares are still down more than 60%. From the all-time high, the stock is down more than 85%.
Surprisingly, the company reported earnings amid the current rally and it didn’t slow the gains. That’s despite a top- and bottom-line miss for its fourth-quarter results.
Revenue fell about 40% year over year while the company lost 37 cents a share. Further, the outlook was not great. Management said it expects deliveries between 18,000 and 19,000 units, a year-over-year decrease of about 45% to 48%. As for revenue, they estimate that it will decline from 43.7% to 46.3% year over year.
Despite that, though, shares continued to climb.
I don’t know how things will pan out with regard to the global economy. A drawn-out economic contraction will be lethal for many EV stocks, regardless of how good their product is. I’m not saying Xpeng will be in that group, only that the environment could be difficult.
That said, given the company’s outlook and XPEV stock’s performance, it’s hard to blame Cathie Wood for selling on the rally. Keep in mind, she still has a rather large position in Tesla, a stock that clearly has much better momentum right now.
On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (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.
