What happened
Shares of lidar maker Aeva Technologies (AEVA) were trading sharply lower on Monday, after a Morgan Stanley analyst initiated coverage of the company with a not-exactly-bullish note.
As of 10:45 a.m. EDT, Aeva was down about 10.7% from Friday's closing price.
So what
In a note released early on Monday morning, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore initiated coverage of Aeva with a rating of equal weight and a price target of $11. (Aeva closed at $9.71 on Friday.)
Moore wrote that Aeva's so-called 4D lidar technology is "unique" in the automotive driver-assistance market, and that the company has "carved out material differentiation" in the increasingly crowded lidar-for-autos space.
In some important ways, Aeva Technologies stands out from rivals in a crowded field. But its current valuation seems generous, an analyst wrote. Image source: Aeva Technologies.
He also cited the company's partnerships -- including those with Japanese auto-parts giant Denso and Volkswagen-backed autonomous truck start-up TuSimple Holdings (TSP) -- as factors that help Aeva stand out from the pack.
So why is the stock down? It's that price target: Moore thinks that it will take some time for Aeva, which only went public in March, to grow into its current valuation -- or put another way, the stock looks expensive right now.
Now what
Investors watching Aeva and others in this space can look ahead to the company's second-quarter earnings report, likely in mid-August.
