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 GM and Ford to 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.

NO RISK FROM TWITTER SITUATION: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives notes that "in another shocker," Elon Musk informed Twitter (TWTR) over the weekend he will no longer be joining Twitter's board, with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal officially announcing the news late Sunday night. In Ives' opinion, the Twitter board and Musk could not come to an agreement around Musk's communications with the public over Twitter as he likely needed to take a more back seat, quiet stance as part of joining the board. Ives said Musk no longer joining the Twitter board could lead to a host of scenarios - joining up with a private equity partner and forcing major strategic changes at Twitter or a possible sale, creating more noise and angst for Twitter's board and executives with various proposed platform changes, or the possibility that Musk says "game over," reduces his stake and goes home. The analyst maintains an Outperform rating on Tesla (TSLA) with a price target of $1,400 as he sees no risk from this Twitter situation impacting shares of Tesla or Musk's focus. The Fly notes that last week the executive heading up Tesla disclosed a 9.2% stake in the social media company.

CYBERTRUCK IN 2023: Tesla will start selling its delayed Cybertruck electric pickup in 2023 along with "numerous" other products, The New York Times' Jack Ewing reported, citing comments made by CEO Elon Musk late Thursday. At the company's "Cyber Rodeo" event showing off its factory near Austin, the executive commented that, "Sorry for the delay. But you're going to have this next year, and it's really going to be great."

PRODUCTION SUSPENDED: Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio (NIO) said on Saturday it has suspended production after the country's measures to contain the recent surge of COVID-19 cases disrupted operations at its suppliers, according to Reuters. The company will postpone deliveries of the EVs to users and will work together with the suppliers to strive for resumption while meeting the government's COVID curbs, it added.

MARCH CHINA SALES: China auto sales plunged in March as the country's curbs to rein in COVID-19 outbreaks took their toll, while Tesla was among automakers feeling the pain of limits on production, Reuters said. Sales in the world's biggest car market tumbled 11.7% in March from a year earlier to 2.23 million vehicles - its first decline in three months and contrasting sharply with an 18.7% jump in February, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China has imposed strict lockdowns to contain the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant, including in Jilin province and Shanghai. Tesla has suspended production at its Shanghai factory since March 28, while Volkswagen's (VWAGY) Shanghai joint venture paused operations this month. Volkswagen and Toyota Motor (TM) joint ventures with their Chinese partners in Changchun, Jilin's capital, have been suspended since mid-March, the publication adds.

Q1 PRODUCTION: Rivian Automotive (RIVN) announced production totals for the quarter ending March 31, 2022. The company produced 2,553 vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois and delivered 1,227 vehicles during the same period. These figures are in line with the company's expectations, and it believes it is well positioned to deliver on the 25,000 annual production guidance provided during its fourth quarter earnings call on March 10, 2022.

Meanwhile, Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage of Rivian with an Underperform rating and $35 price target. Exane called Rivian "a serious brand with true staying power," but said the company's price increase plans suggest its original R1T/R1S pricing was "structurally unprofitable." The firm noted that its full year 2023-2024 revenue estimates for Rivian are 9% and 13% below consensus, respectively, and that its adjusted EBITDA view is 1% below consensus amid negative per unit economics.

GM, HONDA EXPAND RELATIONSHIP: General Motors (GM) and Honda (HMC) announced plans to expand the two companies' relationship by codeveloping a series of affordable electric vehicles based on a new global architecture using next-generation Ultium battery technology. "The companies are working together to enable global production of millions of EVs starting in 2027, including compact crossover vehicles, leveraging the two companies' technology, design and sourcing strategies. The companies will also work toward standardizing equipment and processes to achieve world-class quality, higher throughput and greater affordability. The compact crossover segment is the largest in the world, with annual volumes of more than 13 million vehicles. GM and Honda also will discuss future EV battery technology collaboration opportunities, to further drive down the cost of electrification, improve performance and drive sustainability for future vehicles," they stated.

Mary Barra, GM chair and CEO, said that, "This is a key step to deliver on our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions from light duty vehicles in the U.S. by 2035. By working together, we'll put people all over the world into EVs faster than either company could achieve on its own." Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, added: "Our plans include a new all-electric product for North America positioned at a price point lower than the upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, building on the 2 million units of EV capacity the company plans to install by the end of 2025."

EV MATERIALS PRODUCTION: A fact sheet released by the White House stated that, "President Biden is committed to doing everything in his power to help American families who are paying more out of pocket as a result. That is why today, President Biden will announce a two-part plan to ease the pain that families are feeling by increasing the supply of oil starting immediately and achieving lasting American energy independence that reduces demand for oil and bolsters our clean energy economy... The first part of the President's plan is to immediately increase supply by doing everything we can to encourage domestic production now and through a historic release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to serve as a bridge to greater supply in the months ahead... The President will call on Congress to pass his plan to speed the transition to clean energy that is made in America... And, the President will issue a directive, authorizing the use of the Defense Production Act to secure American production of critical materials to bolster our clean energy economy by reducing our reliance on China and other countries for the minerals and materials that will power our clean energy future. Specifically, the DPA will be authorized to support the production and processing of minerals and materials used for large capacity batteries-such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese-and the Department of Defense will implement this authority using strong environmental, labor, community, and tribal consultation standards. The sectors supported by these large capacity batteries-transportation and the power sector-account for more than half of our nation's carbon emissions. The President is also reviewing potential further uses of DPA - in addition to minerals and materials - to secure safer, cleaner, and more resilient energy for America."

BUY LEAR: On April 6, Bank of America analyst John Murphy double upgraded Lear (LEA) to Buy from Underperform with a price target of $195, up from $150, as he rebalanced his ratings among his auto makers and suppliers coverage. Despite cuts to his volume forecasts, he believes that the near-term volume pressure is setting up for a more robust production volume recovery. His anticipated peak around 2025 should set up for "a broad-based constructive trade on the group to persist into 2022-2023," said Murphy, though he acknowledged he expects stocks in the sector may remain volatile over the next few months.

CAUTION ON NEAR-TERM EARNINGS: DA Davidson analyst Michael Shlisky downgraded Shyft Group (SHYF)to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $37, down from $50. The company has much to be excited about, including its new Class 3 EV and "unprecedented" backlogs, but its key suppliers such as Ford (F) had a tougher March than expected, the analyst told investors in a research note. Shlisky added that multiple weeks of closures at Shyft's key Avon Lake facility in mid-March likely made it tough for the company's core walk-in van business, and with conditions still not back to normal, he urges near-term caution on earnings.

SELL NEXTERA ENERGY PARTNERS: Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov downgraded NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) to Underperform from Market Perform as part of a series of rating changes within an earnings update on the renewable energy and clean technology sector. The analyst sees "a lack of needle-moving catalysts" and notes that the stock is trading at the yieldco peer group's lowest dividend yield with a "historically narrow" spread versus the 10-year Treasury.

BUY ARRAY FOLLOWING RESULTS: Guggenheim analyst Joseph Osha upgraded Array Technologies (ARRY) to Buy from Neutral with an $18 price target following the company's fourth quarter results. Array's stock had declined by 48% over the prior six months, compared to approximately flat performance for the S&P 500, noted Osha, who believes that the stock's underperformance and current EV/EBITDA multiple "more than compensates investors for the continued challenges" the company faces.

ANTI-DUMPING PROBE: Piper Sandler analyst Kashy Harrison downgraded FTC Solar (FTCI) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $4, down from $9. The decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate anti-dumping and countervailing duty circumvention in certain Southeast Asian countries will cause project delays, Harrison told investors in a research note. While delay risk is already being reflected in the stock, a Neutral rating is warranted as FTC Solar is basically a binary option on antidumping and countervailing at this point, the analyst said.

RIPE FOR GENERATIONAL DISRUPTION: Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu initiated coverage of Archer Aviation (ACHR) with a Buy rating and $10 price target. Following the evolution of battery electric cars from "a niche market to the foundation of every automaker's future relevance," Yu believes the aviation industry is "similarly ripe for generational disruption" and envisions the conventional helicopter ultimately becoming redundant as small, quiet electric aircraft get used regularly in large metro areas. In addition to Archer, Yu started coverage of Joby Aviation (JOBY) and Vertical Aerospace (EVTL), both at Hold, in the electric vertical takeoff and landing space.