Getting in on the electric vehicle stock race has captured the imaginations of plenty of investors these days. The newest such way to get in came from VinFast (NASDAQ:VFS), and investors have been piling into the Vietnamese electric vehicle maker with both fists. In fact, VinFast’s market cap is now so high that it exceeds that of several major firms. Today alone, VinFast was up around 25% at one point.
While it’s still no Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), VinFast’s recent push has allowed it to become remarkably valuable. In fact, it’s now not only worth more than several other electric vehicle stocks combined, but it also has a higher market cap than Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and even 3M (NYSE:MMM). Analysts came out from several quarters, with Jim Chanos declaring VinFast’s valuation to be “insane” and Bill Maurer, in no uncertain terms, noting that VinFast’s growth prospects in no way justify this valuation.
There was, however, one bit that might have justified the rising prices. Star Group Industrial—one of VinFast’s key suppliers—is considering a factory in Vietnam. Since VinFast gets its magnets from Star Group, the installation of a new factory means more ready access to magnets. That makes construction easier and more rapid, meaning that VinFast can deliver more vehicles and potentially make more money as well. With Star Group also reportedly looking to source its magnet parts from Vietnam, that reduces the potential blow of China’s stranglehold on rare earth minerals.
A look at the last five days in trading for VinFast stock shows the several sudden rises that it’s seen over that period. Interestingly, today’s rise was much sharper at one point; VinFast actually lost some of the gains seen earlier today. However, it’s still trading significantly higher than it was this time yesterday.
