TESLA Q2 DEMAND AS ROBUST: In a research note to investors on Monday, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives acknowledged that there is "clearly a lot of noise" and perceived headwinds that Tesla (TSLA) is contending with in the field, including the lingering chip shortage, China political blowback from recent safety issues, and rising EV competition around the globe. The EV arms race was evident in full force over the weekend as while CEO Elon Musk hosted "Saturday Night Live" in a highly anticipated performance, three EV rivals - Lucid Motors (CCIV), Ford (F), and Volkswagen (VWAGY) - all showcased their flagship electric vehicles in separate advertisements aired during the broadcast, Ives noted. Despite "the glass-half-empty view" of EV stocks and Tesla over the last few months after a historic rally over the past year, the analyst argued that underlying consumer EV demand looks robust in China, Europe, with the U.S. playing catchup. Further, Ives also believes as the China EV delivery numbers come out over the coming weeks that April and May's demand look strong not just for Tesla, but domestic EV players such as NIO (NIO), Xpeng (XPEV), Li Auto (LI) and others are seeing robust demand in this key region. He has an Outperform rating and a price target of $1,000 on Tesla's stock.

NIO ON TRACK FOR Q2 TARGET: Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao said that NIO's report of 7,102 unit deliveries in April keep the company on track to achieve its 21,000-22,000 delivery target guidance in the second quarter. With a boost from promotion around the Shanghai Auto Show, order intake steadily recovered in March and April said Hsiao, who thinks healthy demand could give NIO greater operating flexibility for more active promotion and marketing campaigns. Hsiao has an Overweight rating and $64 price target on NIO shares.

SOLID POWER INVESTMENT: Solid Power, a producer of all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, announced a $130M Series B investment round led by the BMW Group (BMWYY), Ford Motor, and Volta Energy Technologies. Ford and the BMW Group have also expanded existing joint development agreements with Solid Power to secure all-solid-state batteries for future electric vehicles. The investment positions Solid Power to produce full-scale automotive batteries, increase associated material output, and expand in-house production capabilities for future vehicle integration. The BMW Group and Ford aim to utilize Solid Power's low-cost, high-energy all-solid-state battery technology in forthcoming electric vehicles. Both Ford and the BMW Group will receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022.

BAKER HUGHES, BLOOM ENERGY COLLABORATION: Baker Hughes (BKR) and Bloom Energy (BE) have announced and agreed to collaborate on the potential commercialization and deployment of integrated, low carbon power-generation and hydrogen solutions to advance the energy transition. Baker Hughes and Bloom Energy will begin collaborating on potential customer engagements immediately, with the objective of launching pilot projects over the next 2-3 years and fully commercializing and scaling applications, products, and solutions shortly thereafter.

BUY SOLAREDGE: Bank of America analyst Aric Li upgraded SolarEdge (SEDG) to Buy from Neutral with a $276 price target. The recent share underperformance is driven by investor concerns around near-term chip shortages and the related impact for not just full year 2021, but the possibility of "systemic shortage" persisting into the fiscal year 2022, the analyst told investors in a research note. Li stated, however, that this risk should ultimately prove to be a "transitory overhang" and sees the positive long-term outlook and a robust demand backdrop presenting a buying opportunity for SolarEdge shares.

Taking the other side, on May 4 Northland analyst Gus Richard raised the firm's price target on SolarEdge to $220 from $210 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares after the company reported an "in-line quarter" that he does not see as likely to be enough to move its shares higher. While noting that SolarEdge will grow "slightly faster" in Q2 due to tight inventory at Enphase Energy (ENPH), Richard added that he does not believe the outperformance is sustainable.

MOVING TO THE SIDELINES: On Tuesday, R.F. Lafferty analyst Jamie Perez downgraded Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $35, down from $49. The analyst cited the company's reported loss per common unit of (24c) that missed the consensus forecast.