Freyr Battery announced a key milestone that earned the Norwegian battery startup an analyst upgrade. Freyr Battery stock soared Thursday off a low base.
During its Capital Markets Day June 27, Freyr Battery said that it had assembled, charged and discharged its first battery cells at its plant in Norway. Freyr also expects to send sample battery cells to customers for validation within the next six months.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley on Thursday upgraded FREY to overweight citing "material milestones." That includes the potential for progress on battery manufacturing to "unlock" funding for its Giga Arctic factory in Norway. Freyr also has a Giga America battery plant under development in Georgia.
"We see the next 3-6 months as a catalyst window for unlocking shareholder value," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said. He upgraded FREY stock to overweight, with a price target of 13.
Freyr Battery Stock
Shares of Freyr Battery soared 20.2% to 9.08 on the stock market today. But Freyr Battery stock met resistance at the 200-day moving average and closed in the bottom half of the day's range.
The battery stock is rallying in 2023 after plunging in the fourth quarter of 2022. It had closed at 7.55 Wednesday before rocketing Thursday.
Battery companies and automakers, including Tesla, are investing heavily in battery technology, to feed demand for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Last September, Morgan Stanley's Jonas had named Freyr Battery stock a top pick.
"The environment is becoming ripe for FREY to become a real player in the global battery economy later this decade," Jonas said at the time. For now, Freyr remains a nonrevenue company.
Further, the Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives for domestic EV and battery production.
