Normally, a C-suite roster change does not produce huge results for a company. The same cannot be said for electric vehicle maker Polestar (PSNY), whose deck-shuffling made for a massive change in Tuesday afternoon’s trading. In fact, Polestar is up over 12% after this news hit. So, who did Polestar name as its new chief financial officer (CFO)? As it turns out, they brought in Jean-Francois Mady.
Mady took over from Thomas Ingenlath, who had served for several years with Polestar. But it is Mady’s pedigree that likely caught the market’s attention most.
Mady was previously a finance executive with Stellantis (STLA). Given that Stellantis’ market cap is a bit over 70 times that of Polestar’s—$641.13 million for Polestar against $46.88 billion for Stellantis—Mady likely looked like a good pick to Polestar, as he was clearly capable of running a much larger operation.
Price Cuts Afoot
Meanwhile, anyone interested in picking up a Polestar—particularly the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4—will be in for some good news as price cuts are likely ahead. With the Polestar 3 getting ready to hit stores, the standard Polestar 2 will be lowered from $67,400 to $62,400. The dual-motor version, meanwhile, will now retail for $80,380. Reports note that the entire Polestar 2 lineup will have adaptive cruise control and the Pilot Pack, which includes both Pilot Assist and Emergency Stop Assist systems.
As for the Polestar 4, the firm’s SUV model, that price will be lowered to $78,500, which is a discount of $3,000. These will look particularly attractive alongside pricing for the Polestar 3 because that starts at $132,900 per car.
Is Polestar a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PSNY stock based on two Buys, one Hold, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 57.85% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PSNY price target of $1.58 per share implies 14.91% upside potential.
