UBS Upgrades Exxon Mobil to Buy, Raises Price Target to $144
UBS analyst Jon Rigby upgrades $Exxon Mobil (XOM.US)$ from Neutral to Buy and raises the price target from $125 to $144.
RBC Capital Downgrades Rivian Automotive to Sector Perform, Lowers Price Target to $14
RBC Capital analyst Tom Narayan downgrades $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$ from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowers the price target from $28 to $14.
RBC Capital Downgrade...

Upgrades
• $ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD.US)$: Canaccord Genuity Upgrades to Buy from Hold - PT $31 (from $30)
• $Host Hotels & Resorts (HST.US)$: Raymond James Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform - PT $21
• $Magna International (MGA.US)$: Raymond James Upgrades to Market Perform from Underperform - PT $68
• $Micron Technology (MU.US)$: Bernstein Upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform - PT $94 (from $58)
• $Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE.US)$: Credit Sui...

Sony: At the past two Consumers Electronics Shows, $Sony (SONY.US)$ has hinted at getting into the electric vehicle space, even showing off a prototype last year.
During CES 2022 on Tuesday, Sony unveiled a prototype electric SUV called the Vision-S 02. The vehicle is the second prototype from the company, following the Vision-S 01 electric car that was unveiled in 2020.
A new electric ve...

Sony Corp: One of the largest companies still attending the 2022 CES in person is $Sony (SONY.US)$ . The company has been known to show off its latest in technology for smart TVs, smart homes and other features at the annual event. Sony has taken the last two years to mention it was working on its own electric vehicle with partners like $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ and $Magna International (MGA.US)$ . Could 2022 be th...

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ is back front and center of the talk in the electric vehicle sector with Bloomberg reporting the tech giant is targeting a launch of a self-driving car in four years. Apple's progress in developing a chip made up primarily of neural processors that can handle the artificial intelligence needed for autonomous driving is the driving force in pushing the Apple Car project ahead again. Previous reports indicated that $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ would likely make the autonomous chip for Apple. The company has also held discussions on battery options with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co and $BYD Co. (BYDDF.US)$.
The general consensus on the initiative is that Apple will seek out a manufacturing partner. But who? Wedbush Securities thinks Apple is very likely to announce a strategic partnership next year that lays out the groundwork needed to enter the autonomous vehicle space. In his update, analyst Dan Ives mentions H $HYUNDAI MOTOR CO GDR EACH REP 1/2 PFD N/VTG(REG'S')(CIT) (HYMTF.US)$, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$, $General Motors (GM.US)$, $Ford Motor (F.US)$ and $VOLKSWAGEN AG (VLKAF.US)$ as potential partners, while noting a partnership in China could include $XPeng (XPEV.US)$ or $NIO Inc (NIO.US)$. Other companies being bandied around Wall Street as potential AAPL partners include $Magna International (MGA.US)$, $Stellantis NV (STLA.US)$ and Foxconn.
The Apple autonomous car news sent shares of many auto stocks a bit lower after they were already in negative territory. Notable decliners include $Lucid Group (LCID.US)$, $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$, $Mullen Automotive (MULN.US)$, $Canoo (GOEV.US)$, $AYRO Inc (AYRO.US)$, $Electrameccanica Vehicles (SOLO.US)$, $Fisker (FSR.US)$, $GreenPower Motor (GP.US)$, $Workhorse (WKHS.US)$, $Nikola (NKLA.US)$, $Arrival (ARVL.US)$, $Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (FFIE.US)$ and $Proterra (PTRA.US)$.