The price of gasoline keeps rising for three simple reasons.
First, the initial lockdowns associated with the pandemic caused a painful crash in crude oil and related markets, with crude sinking as low as negative-forty-dollars per barrel. For the rest of 2020 up until we started seeing the light at the end of the vaccine research tunnel, oil companies were kept in a state of fear about the next lockdowns to come. As a result, no one invested in expanding production capacity, which put the industry way behind the curve, and now we are paying for it at the pump.
Second, it is no longer politically or culturally tenable to make big investments in new oil exploration and production. As has recently been highlighted by Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil, the price for the mission to slow human-caused global warming is a lack of increased production, even as oil and gas prices power higher.
And third, the economic recovery is on increasingly strong footing and monetary and fiscal policymakers are working hard to create as much demand and inflation as they can to help force interest rates off the zero lower bound and finally get us off the drip feed of “alternative policy measures” like QE and Curve Control.
The end result is a strong bull market in oil, and rising and likely higher gasoline prices to stay.
For investors, that means an even better reason to steer long-term investment capital toward key disruptive players in the electric vehicle space. Afterall, those driven toward EVs for purely environmental reasons offer a market that is bounded as a subgroup. But financial pain at the pump promises to expand that market to include just about everyone over time.
That could be a boon for stocks in the space like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Fisker Inc (NYSE:FSR), KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR), Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ:NKLA), FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL), Nio Inc – ADR (NYSE:NIO), and Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG).
We take a closer look at a few of these names below.
FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) is a staple in the EV supplier space. The company designs, manufactures, sells, installs, operates, and services stationary fuel cell power plants for distributed power generation.
The company offers SureSource product line based on carbonate fuel cell technology in various configurations, including on-site power, utility grid support, distributed hydrogen, and micro-grid, as well as multi-megawatt applications; and SureSource Recovery power plants for natural gas pipeline applications.
FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) recently announced progress toward achieving commercial deployment of its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. The technical progress in ongoing programs is further advanced with additional funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Company is pleased to report that based on its progress and differentiated platform it has been awarded Phase 2 funding in the amount of $8 million for the previously announced ARPA-E project for development of ultra-high efficiency SOFC systems for power generation.
“We continue to make progress in advancing our solid oxide fuel cell platform toward commercialization with the aid of key DOE programs in addition to our own capital investment,” commented Jason Few, President and Chief Executive Officer of FuelCell Energy. “With the addition of solid oxide technology, FuelCell Energy offers one of the most complete portfolios of stationary fuel cell platforms in the industry. FuelCell Energy is committed to providing distributed power platforms that help modernize the electric grid, provide a path to decarbonization, deliver energy resiliency and offer a solution to more seamlessly integrate intermittent sources of renewable power like wind and solar.”
While this is a clear factor, it has been incorporated into a trading tape characterized by a pretty dominant offer, which hasn’t been the type of action FCEL shareholders really want to see. In total, over the past five days, shares of the stock have dropped by roughly -9% on above average trading volume. All in all, not a particularly friendly tape, but one that may ultimately present some new opportunities.
FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) generated sales of $14M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of -6.2% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($156.5M against $56.2M).
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) develops, manufactures and licenses next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems. The company offers lithium-ion battery thermal runaway shields; fiber thermal interface materials; phase change material heatsinks; HYDRA TRS battery storage bags; internal short circuit device; and CRUX cathodes.
Its technologies are used in electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and energy storage and 5G communication technologies. It developed some of its technology solutions as part of its partnership with NASA.
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) has been stringing together strong catalysts over the past few weeks. The company recently announced that it was being uplisted to the NYSE American Exchange, where it began trading on June 7.
“I am very pleased to announce that KULR has been approved to begin trading on the NYSE American Exchange,” said Michael Mo, Co-Founder and CEO of KULR Technology Group. “This uplist to a senior U.S. exchange represents another important milestone in our Company’s history. I want to thank our employees for their hard work and perseverance in support of this great accomplishment, and concurrently, our shareholders for their patience and continued support of KULR. Trading on the NYSE will provide the Company more visibility to a much broader pool of investors and, in turn, increase liquidity. As a result, we are even more confident of KULR’s growth potential going forward.”
This follows recent news that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded it a patent on the company’s Thermal Runaway Shield (TRS) – a passive propagation resistant solution designed and successfully tested to reduce the hazardous risks associated with thermal runaway in lithium-ion battery packs. This is the third patent the Company has been granted on its TRS technology.
KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCMKTS:KULR) managed to rope in revenues representing a rate of top line growth of 297.8% compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($8.9M against $2.9M).
Fisker Inc (NYSE:FSR) bills itself as a company developing the most “emotionally desirable and eco-friendly electric vehicles on Earth.
Passionately driven by a vision of a clean future for all, the company is on a mission to become the No. 1 e-mobility service provider with the world’s most sustainable vehicles.
Fisker Inc (NYSE:FSR) recently announced it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Mekonomen Group to provide a range of after-sales services for the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish markets. Consistent with Fisker’s asset-lite and digital-forward business model, the Mekonomen Group will provide outsourced solutions covering areas including vehicle delivery, service / maintenance, fleet management, mobile fleet servicing and refurbishment.
“From November 17, 2022 we will start production and deliveries of the Fisker Ocean SUV, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden among the first European markets to launch,” commented Fisker Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Henrik Fisker. “Supporting a great product must be an equally great ownership experience. Partnering with the recognized leader in service and logistics across Scandinavia will be an important part of delivering excellence to our customers.”
Even in light of this news, FSR has had a rough past week of trading action, with shares sinking something like -5% in that time. That said, shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 40% in that time on strong overall action.
Fisker Inc (NYSE:FSR) had no reported sales in its last quarterly financial data. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($985.4M against $11.6M).
