Freyr could see monster gains over the next 12 months after a slow start to 2023, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Adam Jonas upgraded the battery stock to overweight from equal weight. His $13 price target implies shares could rally 72.2% from Wednesday’s close. “We see next 3-6 months as a catalyst window for unlocking shareholder value,” Jonas said in a Wednesday note. “In our opinion, FREY is a relatively binary investment opportunity that we believe can show meaningful progress on commercial milestones.” Shares were up more than 7% in premarket trading Thursday. The stock has fallen about 13% on the year. FREY YTD mountain FREYR, year to date Freyr should be able to progress on commercial goals such as battery production and cell delivery that can then lead to subsequent funding events, Jonas said. Recently, the company achieved a goal of assembling, charging and discharging battery cells at a plant in Norway and is likely to send sample sells to customers in the next month to validate. The company is also expanding its strategic relationships, with Jonas pointing to a new agreement with Chinese battery manufacturer Sunwoda Mobility Energy that he said could improve technological diversification. Though the bull-bear spread skews high, he said the stock’s recent underperformance and transparency from the company around execution has improved the risk-reward ratio. Freyr will start reporting key production metrics including uptime to show its operating capabilities. Yield, another metric that will now be reported, can get a boost as Freyr moves from partially automated production lines to fully automated facilities, according to Jonas. And data gathered from the Norway plant can help improve the process when ramping up other factories. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
