ChargePoint Holdings price target cut in half at Needham as stock drops after warning

Needham analyst Chris Pierce on Friday cut his price target on ChargePoint Holdings Inc.’s stock
CHPT,
-36.10%
to $4 from $8 after the electric-vehicle charging specialist lost its top executive and forecast third-quarter sales below the consensus view. ChargePoint’s stock was down 29% in premarket trading Friday on heavy volume of 1.5 million shares. Pierce said ChargePoint continues to see order delays due to economic uncertainty. “We are still believers in EV adoption at the consumer and fleet levels given government incentives and the lower total cost of ownership…with near term weakness pushing out growth in our model,” Pierce said, while keeping a buy rating on the stock. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer cut its rating on ChargePoint to perform from outperform and removed its $13 price target for the stock. “We are stepping to the sidelines…given the management transition, choppy demand, and potential for further organizational changes,” said Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch.