Despite the recent market volatility, I’ve been fairly fortunate. I had become sceptical about the valuations of some tech stocks and had minimal exposure to them within my portfolio. But having seen tech stocks plummet over the past six months, means some are starting to look a lot more attractive. The electric vehicle (EV) sector is one area I’ve been looking at more closely, as I see the industry’s growth as inevitable. So here are four EV-related growth stocks I’m considering for my portfolio.

NIO

NIO (NYSE:NIO) has a market cap of $20bn. Now that might sound like a lot, especially when you realise its three times larger than British engineering giant Rolls-Royce. But it’s only a fraction of the valuation afforded to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which surpassed a $1trn valuation last year before its recent fall. The Shanghai-based firm has demonstrated impressive revenue growth, moving from $719m in revenue in 2018, to $5,6bn in 2021. Over the period, car sales rose from 8,101 to 91,429.

From watching endless car review videos, it seems that NIO has a very competitive offering in the sector. It also employs an ingenious system that allows car owners to quickly swap batteries at NIO stations — in three minutes — rather than the conventional recharging method. I think NIO could be a big winner. However, the current Chinese lockdowns are likely to stunt growth in 2022.

Li Auto

Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) is another Chinese EV company that could be set to boom. The firm has boosted R&D spending this year, using up 42% of its budget in the first quarter alone. Li Auto is expected to deliver its L9 model in the third quarter of 2022. The long-awaited PHEV SUV could turbocharge the brand’s fortunes in an increasingly competitive environment. Li Auto performed in line with expectation in Q1, delivering nearly 32,000 Li Ones — its first vehicle. However, April deliveries fell to less than 5,000 as lockdowns hit China. Therefore the Q2 forecast of 21,000-24,000 may be a little optimistic. In general, I’d favour NIO over Li Auto.

Blink Charging

Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK) operates over 30,000 EV charging stations in 16 countries, although primarily across the US. The firm recently announced positive results, with losses narrowing and revenue growing substantially. Revenue grew 339% to $9.8m in Q1 versus the same period last year. The firm has demonstrated impressive growth over the past two years and the number of Blink Charging stations has more than doubled over the last 12 months. I think it could well be a big winner, although as a relatively small company, its share price could be swayed by large trades and market volatility in the near term.

Tesla

I’ve been looking at Tesla again after its share price collapsed in April. However, I’m still not convinced. It’s the world’s most valuable car company but that’s based on massive growth projections. Tesla reported revenues of just $53.8bn in its record-breaking 2021, with adjusted EBITDA of $11.6bn and net income of $5.5bn. I’m concerned about competition, not only from companies like NIO, but established brands as they enhance their EV offerings. I’m still passing on Tesla.

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Here are two top stocks from both sides of the Atlantic I’m considering buying today.

A UK share for an inflationary spike

I think Shanta Gold (LSE: SHG) could prove to be a top penny stock to buy as fears of rising inflation worsen. Precious metals prices have come off the boil recently. However, I think demand for so-called hard currencies could soar again as doubts concerning the value of their paper equivalents increase. A Bank of America survey shows that tension over an inflationary spike now dwarfs fund managers’ concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic.

I’m also encouraged to buy Shanta Gold because production looks set to rise throughout 2020 as a third mill at its New Luika gold mine in Tanzania is set to come on-line. This explains why City analysts think earnings at the UK mining share will rise 90% in 2020. Incidentally this leaves the company trading on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 6 times.

Remember, though, that the business of raw materials production is replete with operational risk. The political environment in Tanzania has also been hostile to the mining industry in recent years. There’s always a real chance that these bright profits forecasts could be blown off course, pulling this share price significantly lower.

Charge of the EV brigade

I also think that Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK) could provide excellent shareholder returns as electric car sales take off. According to IHS Markit, a whopping 2.5m new electric vehicles (EVs) rolled off the forecourts in 2020. The number is predicted to swell to a staggering 12.2m by the middle of the decade.

It’s a theme that Blink Charging — which creates and operates charging stations for EVs across the US — is well placed to exploit. This US share currently operates around 23,000 such stations and is expanding through a blend of organic investment and acquisitions. Bear in mind, though, that the company isn’t expected to turn a profit before 2023.

High sales of EVs have been helped in large part by generous grants globally. So any sign of reductions in such incentives could have a significant impact on demand for Blink’s services. This week, for instance, here in the the UK the government reduced the maximum grant under its scheme by £500 to £2,500. It slashed the scheme’s purchase price cap to £35,000 from £50,000 as well. Authorities in the gigantic Chinese car market are also set to cut subsidies over the next couple of years. Similar proposals could once again rear their head in the US, though a quest to hit carbon-reduction targets could encourage lawmakers to keep the grants coming. We just don’t know at present.

The post A cheap UK share (and a US stock) I’d buy before the ISA deadline appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Road warrior

I reckon that Hill and Smith’s (LSE: HILS) a UK share that could deliver big returns over the next 10 years. This business is most famous for building the crash barriers that can be found alongside roads. But it offers an array of other roadside furniture like signs, lighting apparatus and bridges too.

Its operations can be found all over the globe, from Australia and Sweden to the UK and the US. In my opinion, it can expect demand for its products to rise as huge infrastructure-building projects come on stream in the years ahead.

Yet a risk to Hill & Smith’s profits outlook in the UK has just emerged. The government plans to launch a £27bn road-building programme, a move that should provide a meaty revenues boost for the UK share. But a legal challenge on environmental grounds threatens to scupper the construction project. I still think the firm is an attractive buy though, even with that UK issue.

Profits projections can fall short if trading conditions change. But City analysts think Hill & Smith’s earnings will rise 31% in 2021. This leaves it trading on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20 times.

A green US share

I believe that buying Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK) is another good investment idea for the 2020s.

This US share builds and operates charging stations from which drivers can juice up their vehicles at home, at work or on the street. This puts it in pole position to ride the EV revolution in my opinion.

Despite the broader slowdown in the new car market last year, sales of these cars rose 4% in Blink Charging’s home territory of the US in 2020. Demand for low-carbon vehicles is likely to keep growing too, as legislators are increasingly laying down ambitious targets for EV adoption, and car manufacturers accelerate development in this particular field.

That said, I think there is a serious threat to Blink Charging’s long-term earnings outlook. Plug-in EV sales are soaring today, sure, but hydrogen vehicles may eventually prove to be the winner. They’re quicker to fill up and their fuel cells offer better range than the majority of electric batteries. New hydrogen fuelling stations are also being built all over the world. And the world’s largest carmakers are also investing huge sums into this form of green mobility too. Hyundai, for example, has just announced plans to build a vast hydrogen cell manufacturing plant in China.

Despite this risk, I still feel that Blink Charging could deliver big returns for UK share investors over the next decade. This is even though City analysts expect the company to remain loss-making this year. And especially as the company aggressively builds out its charging station network through a mix of organic investment and acquisition activity.

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