Every few weeks or so, we look up all the publicly traded electric mobility players in the two-wheeler and light mobility space. We wish we could say that the idea is to check up on the health, but in recent quarters, it has been to see if everyone is still breathing. Most of them started off as SPACs, and it hasn't worked out well for them.
Many weeks back, we wrote a series of analyses on how well the SPACs have been doing. Or not!
Editor
Editor
Editor
This was eight months back, and things were bad then. They are much worse now. So, let's take a quick look at where everyone is regarding market cap and overall health.
Brace up. (In random order as they appear in our Yahoo Finance feed)
The Markets
The companies that we are discussing here are listed on the ASX, NYSE, Nasdaq, Sensex (India), HKSE (HongKong), and Shanghai exchanges. It would be good to see how the broader markets have performed in the last six months. This is important as it is pointless to say that any company has done badly if the broader exchange has done worse.
Rating the above in a decreasing order of performance over the last six months:
- Hang Seng (Hong Kong) : +32.69%
- Shanghai Composite (Shanghai): +18.93%
- Nasdaq: +8.35%
- Dow Jones Industrial: +5.32%
- ASX 200 (Australia): +2.44%
- BSE Sensex (India): - 8.67%
At a very basic, almost nonsense, level, we can say that an E2W manufacturer listed on Hang Seng would have done much better than one listed on ASX or SENSEX. Is that the case?
Zapp Electric (NQ: ZAPP)
UK-based, Thailand-manufactured, NQ-listed Zapp scooters shared some good news recently that manufacturing has started and they have already started delivering in Thailand and the UK.
Since then, things have cooled down again, and the share is trading at USD 0.831 for a market cap of USD 5.41m. It is down 79% in the last six months.
Gogoro (NQ: GGR)
Gogoro is facing strong headwinds. The poster boy of electric mobility continues to bleed money and is now left with less than USD 120m in cash reserves.
The share closed yesterday at USD 0.429 for a market cap of USD 126.58m, only slightly more than the cash left in the bank. In the last six months, GGR is down 65%.
Gogoro has further problems as it has received a Nasdaq delisting notice. The details:
Gogoro continues to trade well below USD 1.00, and the deadline for compliance is Apr 28th, 2025, approaching very quickly.
Livewire (NYSE: LVWR)
Livewire commands a market cap of USD 470m. They are not doing well, with annual motorcycle sales below 700 units. The only reason they still have a market cap of USD 470m is because they are owned by Harley, and the free-float is low.
However, Harley protection has not stopped the share price from collapsing by 63% in the last six months. Yes, Livewire had a USD 1.2bn market cap not too long back.
Damon (NQ: DMN)
With their recent Q2 FY 2025 results, Damon made silly attempts at whitewashing the unfolding disaster. It is also evident from the results release that the Hypersport electric superbike is never coming. The company seems to be working on a change in direction, which may not involve motorcycles at all.
The suspected change in direction has not stopped the company's share price from falling nearly every day. The stock price is down 95% since listing, almost a vertical fall. The market cap is down to USD 4.8m, and the company has two months of cash left based on working capital requirement estimates. There is a USD 10m credit line, though.
Vmoto (VMT.ASX)
Vmoto is ASX traded, and for some time now, they have been public about their intentions to delist. The company feels that the market cap is not commensurate with the company's view of its fundamental value.
In this case, we agree with the management. The company deserves a better valuation with the geographical reach and the wide product portfolio it has. As of now, the stock is down nearly 30% in the last six months.
Ola Electric (BSE SENSEX: OLAELEC.NS)
Last year, Ola Electric did the biggest IPO for an E2W manufacturer worldwide. The pre-IPO valuation was USD 5.4bn, though Ola listed at about USD 3.6bn.
In the last six months, the Ola Electric stock has corrected by 55.4% far under-performing the Indian index which was down 8.67%.
Volcon (NQ: VLCN)
In the last few months, we have not bothered to look at Volcon since the company has changed its business from making rather interesting all-terrain motorcycles to importing cheap golf carts from Vietnam. The business model has changed from innovation to tax arbitrage, driven by a survival instinct.
The stock is down 93% over the last six months and the market cap is reduced to USD 3.16m.
Yadea (HANG SENG: 1585.HK)
Yadea is the world's largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of production volumes as well as profitability. Yes, it is amazing that they make a healthy dollop of profits selling scooters and motorcycles (at times not even under their own brand) worldwide.
The Yadea stock is up 22.49% over the last six months. That may sound good but it trails the Hang Seng on performance as the index has been up 32.69% in the same timeframe.
Jiangsu Xinri (Shanghai: 603787.SS)
Jiangsu Xinri sells electric mopeds under the Sunra brand name. Not as big as Yadea, it is nevertheless a significant Chinese exporter.
In the last six months, Jiangsu Xinri has appreciated in value by 13.99%. This may look good, but like Yadea, Xinri SUNRA also trails the index of the market (Shanghai) it is traded on.
AIMA Technologies (Shanghai: 603529.SS)
Like Xinri Sunra, Yadea, and Luyuan, AIMA is one of the prominent Chinese exporters of electric two-wheelers. In the last six months, the stock has appreciated by 34.2%, the only company in this discussion that has outperformed the market index (Shanghai) on which it is traded.
After Yadea, AIMA is the most valued Chinese electric scooter manufacturer.
Luyuan (Hang Seng: 2451.HK)
Luyuan's market cap has grown by 10.6% in the last six months despite underperforming the index.
Niu (NQ: NIU)
Niu remains the most popular Chinese brand in Europe. It had a depressing last quarter of 2024 but recovery has been good.
Overall, on the last six months basis, Niu's stock has been up 30.93%, far outperforming the Nasdaq on which it trades.
Conclusion
Niu and AIMA remain the only companies on our list that have outperformed the index for their market. Everyone else trails and that is something to ponder.
In running this data for fun, we intentionally left out companies with mixed businesses - Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, BMW Motorrad, BRP, Polaris, Piaggio, etc.
