Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT)

ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CHPT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 2,553 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 180% compared to the typical volume of 911 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CHPT. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of ChargePoint in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of ChargePoint in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.00 target price (up from $7.00) on shares of ChargePoint in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of ChargePoint in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $7.50 price target (up from $7.00) on shares of ChargePoint in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.31.

ChargePoint Stock Performance

Shares of CHPT stock traded up $2.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $7.91. The stock had a trading volume of 8,911,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,262. The firm has a market cap of $193.06 million, a PE ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.56. ChargePoint has a fifty-two week low of $4.44 and a fifty-two week high of $12.61.

ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 3rd. The company reported ($1.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.64). The business had revenue of $101.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.64 million. ChargePoint had a negative return on equity of 504.42% and a negative net margin of 49.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ChargePoint will post -5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Key ChargePoint News

Here are the key news stories impacting ChargePoint this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat expectations: ChargePoint reported quarterly revenue of approximately $116.1 million, up 17.7% year over year and above analyst estimates of roughly $105.2 million. ChargePoint Delivers Impressive Q2
• Positive Sentiment: Loss was narrower than expected: Reported loss was $1.35 per share versus the consensus estimate of a $1.57 loss. Another report citing adjusted results showed a $0.35 loss compared with expectations for a $0.80 loss, and the prior-year loss was $1.42 per share. ChargePoint Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Margins and outlook improved: Coverage highlighted record gross margins and management’s ability to surpass prior guidance. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $105 million to $115 million, with a midpoint of $110 million, was slightly above the approximately $109.2 million analyst consensus. ChargePoint Q2 Guidance and Margins
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst stance remains unchanged: Needham & Company reaffirmed its “Hold” rating, suggesting the earnings beat has not yet changed the firm’s longer-term view of the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a major risk: ChargePoint continues to report substantial losses, with negative net margins and return on equity. The company’s balance-sheet liquidity and high debt-to-equity ratio also leave limited room for execution missteps.

Insider Activity at ChargePoint

In other news, CFO Mansi Khetani sold 8,152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.13, for a total transaction of $58,123.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 179,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,751.24. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Eric Batill sold 4,979 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.13, for a total value of $35,500.27. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 143,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,024,089.03. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 29,164 shares of company stock worth $208,037 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ChargePoint

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in ChargePoint by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,790,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after buying an additional 1,448,114 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ChargePoint by 6,429.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,679,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638,182 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ChargePoint by 18.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,483,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 385,258 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in ChargePoint by 5.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 773,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 38,667 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in ChargePoint in the second quarter valued at approximately $517,000. 37.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ChargePoint

ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT) is a leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that designs, develops and markets charging hardware, software and services. The company’s portfolio includes Level 2 AC charging stations for residential, commercial and fleet applications, as well as DC fast charging systems suited for retail, hospitality and public use. ChargePoint’s integrated platform enables site hosts to manage charging infrastructure through cloud-based monitoring, analytics and billing tools, while EV drivers access and control charging sessions via a mobile app or RFID card.

Since its founding in 2007 and headquarters in Campbell, California, ChargePoint has built one of the largest open EV charging networks in the world.