ChargePoint Earnings Fell Victim to Auto Strike, New CEO Says

Will Wade and David R. Baker, Bloomberg News

An AC charger at a vibration and seismic shock station at the ChargePoint Advanced Test Facility in San Jose, California, US, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. ChargePoint Holdings Inc., the operator of the US's largest network of electric vehicle chargers, subjects its products to extreme temperatures and rain, and puts them through simulated dust storms and earthquakes. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- ChargePoint Holdings Inc.’s steep revenue drop, triggered in part by the US auto strike, took a back seat to the electric car charging network company’s long-term potential as investors pushed share prices to a three-week high.

Shares Thursday gained as much as 12%, the most intraday since Nov. 14, and were up 10.2% to $2.26 at 12:20 p.m. in New York. The company, which runs the largest US charging network, reported third-quarter revenue of $110.3 million Wednesday after markets closed, a 12% drop from the same period last year.

Growth concerns prompted analysts to cut their price targets and downgrade the company Thursday. However, shares gained with some research firms citing ChargePoint’s growth outlook.

Read More: ChargePoint Earnings Fell Victim to Auto Strike, New CEO Says

B Riley Securities downgraded the company to neutral from buy and halved its 12-month price target to $2.50. Researchers at Evercore ISI, which has a $6 target, said in a note ChargePoint “still has several levers to improve gross margins,” and is well-positioned in an industry that has long-term growth potential.

If ChargePoint’s rally extends, options equivalent to more than 12 million shares could come into play. There are more than 120,000 contracts outstanding of $2.50 call options expiring Friday, each granting the owner the right to buy 100 shares at that price.

While it would take an additional 10% rally before those options would be worth anything, some traders appeared to be paying a few pennies to cover the risk, with about 12,000 contracts trading early Thursday.

New CEO Rick Wilmer said the revenue drop was due in part to the labor strike against US automakers and reluctance on the part of commercial property owners to install chargers due to uncertainty about the direction of the economy.

--With assistance from David Marino.