In a note from Brian Drab, an analysts at William Blair, he wrote that Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) is likely to begin manufacturing membranes for the batteries that will come out of the company’s “gigafactory” which is likely to be two factories begun at the same time in the near future. Of the remaining states remaining on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s short-list, it’s believed that Tesla has already pared this down to two without announcing its shorter short-list.
William Blair upgrade
Following conversations with industry insiders and sources, Drab wrote that he believed Polypore to be in the lead for the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) contract. The membranes are used to separate the batteries in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s battery packs. The low cost of Polypore’s membranes was at the forefront of Drab’s writing though it’s positive reputation and the fact that it is the only lithium battery separator manufacturer in the United States. Without diving into the specifics of how much Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) might see in revenues from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), the analyst concluded that it could amount to half of Polypore’s total revenue in just over five years’ time.
As a result of his report, his rating of Polypore was moved from “market perform” to “Outperform”. He was not alone in this upgrade. On Friday, May 9th, Topeka Capital Markets raised their target price from $43 to $45 in a research note. Analysts at Ascendiant Capital Markets upgraded shares in Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) from a “hold” to a buy on the same day. Friday continued Polypore’s way when Ardour Capital raised its own price target to $43.00 from $36.00 while assigning it to is “accumulate” rating
Trading on Wednesday
Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) surged out of the gates today when the bell was rung. The stock rose to its high of $44.10 within an hour of trading before reaching its trading low for the day of $42.63. Polypore recovered nicely and closed the day at $43.17, a gain of $1.62 per share or 3.9%. Volume was 1,383,657 on a stock that has averaged 599,062 shares traded over the last three months.
With electric cars gaining in market share, partnering with Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is certainly not something to shake a stick at as the company moves forward.
via: TheStreet
