The sudden departure of legacy automaker Stellantis’ (STLA) CEO, Carlos Tavares, hit a lot of people by surprise, but another surprise swung in almost as quickly. Tim Kuniskis will be making a return to Stellantis following Tavares’ departure, and this is lending at least a note of hope to investors. Stellantis shares gained under 2% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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Kuniskis retired earlier this year but came out of retirement to take over the Ram Trucks brand once more. This was Kuniskis’ area of expertise before, so seeing him back on that beat once more must have been reassuring to shareholders.
Stellantis offered a statement along with the announcement of Kuniskis’ return, noting that it “…will enable us to operate in a structure that will drive the best outcomes for the region, unlock significant potential and win in the market.” Further, Stellantis noted that having a Ram brand CEO who is focused exclusively on the Ram brand should be a positive development.
Recalls and Cheap Batteries
But then, things got a little more mixed out at Stellantis. Just days ago, Stellantis faced a recall of over 300,000 of those Ram trucks that Kuniskis will now be responsible for, as they had a defect in their braking system. Faulty brakes in a major truck line are bad news by any stretch, and Stellantis is just now getting started in terms of providing fixes. It will alert affected customers in the coming days, apparently, but will handle any repairs free of charge.
And for those with an interest in Stellantis electric vehicles, good news: Stellantis is looking to get lithium-sulfur batteries out for electric vehicles by 2030. It is part of a larger project with Zeta Energy, which will ultimately see Stellantis swap out lithium-ion cells in exchange for ones made with sulfur. The result will be lighter-weight batteries that offer better range and at lower costs; indeed, Stellantis looks for the sulfur batteries to run about half the price of the current variety, noted Inside EVs.
Is Stellantis Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on STLA stock based on seven Buys, 11 Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 34.23% loss in its share price over the past year, the average STLA price target of $14.98 per share implies 7.96% upside potential.
