UBS sees a $60 billion opportunity in EV charging infrastructure. How to play it

Published Thu, Feb 23 202310:30 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Feb 23 20231:08 PM EST

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

The continued adoption of electric vehicles in the United States will create more winners for investors than just automakers, according to UBS. Analyst Shneur Gershuni said in a note to clients that the buildout of a charging network for electric vehicles opens a new area for investors to bet on the transition away from fossil fuels, which he called a $60 billion opportunity. "We believe the combination of shifting consumer/corporate preferences in favour of decarbonization combined with government support for Energy Transition/Efficiency is creating a new secular growth window. We see EV adoption and the build out of the charging network as one of the pillars of this theme," the note said. While electric vehicle charging stations have been popping up around the country, the buildout will need to accelerate to hit the government's transition goals. "Overall, to hit UBS's 2030 EV penetration forecast of ~19% there would need to be a significant build out of public charging stations (+~50k a year vs. last three year average of ~20k a year just to hit the Biden Administration's target of 500k by 2030," the note said. There is currently no pure way to play a national charging network, like a real estate investment trust, but there are companies involved in part of the supply chain or competing to be part of the network. One of the beneficiaries from the continued expansion of electric vehicles is Tesla . The automaker has its own charging network, but recently agreed to make at least 7,500 of its chargers compatible with other EVs by the end of 2024. After a rough 2022 that saw tech stocks struggle and CEO Elon Musk sell shares to fund his takeover of Twitter, Tesla's stock has rebounded more than 60% already in 2023. There are also companies that specialize in chargers that could benefit from the next wave of EV adoption, including ChargePoint and Blink Charging . UBS does not have ratings on those companies, but does have a buy rating on Wallbox . Barcelona-based Wallbox is a small company, with a market cap of just over $1 billion, but started production at a factory in Texas in 2022 that could help fuel further growth. Wallbox's stock has been hot recently, rising more than 70% since the start of the year. UBS also highlighted that some utility companies could benefit from the increased infrastructure investment. The firm has buy ratings on Sempra and Exelon and said they have "high EV adoption." Utilities stocks outperformed in 2022, but Sempra is little changed this year. Exelon's shares have shed about 3%. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.