Li Auto Approves Share Repurchase Program Up to $1 Billion
Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla, Wall Street's newest darling Rivian, traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GMand Fordto the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with "Charged," a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.Clickto check out Tesla's recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.Q1 DELIVERY ESTIMATE:Last week, Tesla published a company-compiled delivery consensus of sell-side analysts. Tesla said it "does not endorse any information, recommendations or conclusions made by the analysts." Consensus for total deliveries for 2026 is 1.69M vehicles, 2027 is 1.88M vehicles, 2028 is 2.13M vehicles, 2029 is 2.61M vehicles, and 2030 is 3.03M vehicles, the company reported.AI-POWERED CHARGING GUIDANCE:Google (GOOGL)it is bringing Maps' AI-powered EV charging features to over 350 car models with Android Auto. Now, Maps will recommend when and where to charge based on EV model and battery level, reducing range anxiety and the need to juggle multiple apps. Users just need to add their EV info to Maps and set a destination in the car to see their expected battery usage. Then, add their current charge level to get recommended charging stops, estimated arrival battery level and an updated ETA based on charging time. "To deliver accurate battery predictions for hundreds of vehicles, we combine AI with advanced energy models that analyze car details - like weight and battery size - alongside Maps' real-time information about traffic, road elevation and weather. This will allow us to bring intelligent trip-planning features to most U.S. EVs soon," the company said. AI-powered battery predictions are rolling out now on hundreds of EV models in the U.S. across more than 15 brands, with more coming soon. Publicly traded companies in the space include Tesla, Lucid, Nio, Rivian, Xpeng, Li Auto, Zeekr, General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai.KEY MILESTONE:Rivianhas completed winter testing of the VW ID. EVERY1, the first vehicle from its joint venture with Volkswagento use Rivian's software and electrical architecture, triggering a $1B investment from Volkswagen, Sean O'Kane of TechCrunch. The funding includes $750M in equity and $250M in either equity or convertible debt, contingent on the prototypes supplied for testing.SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM:Li Autoannounced that its board of directors has approved a share repurchase program under which the company is authorized to purchase up to $1B of its Class A ordinary shares and/or American depositary shares for the period from the approval date up to March 31, 2027.
