Benzinga | Nov 15, 2021 10:57AM EST

H.C. Wainwright Turns Bullish On Blink Charging

* H.C. Wainwright analyst Sameer Joshi upgraded Blink Charging Co (NASDAQ:BLNK) to Buy from Neutral with a $50 price target, implying a 25% upside.

* The analyst cited "several positive developments" for the upgrade, including a "significantly better" macro environment driven mainly by the approximately $7.5B allocated to electric vehicle charging network build-out in the U.S. as part of the infrastructure bill that has passed both houses of the U.S. Congress.

* Sameer believed the administration's aim to modify the existing $7,500 incentive per EV from a tax credit to a tax refund, and provide an additional benefit of $4,500 for EVs produced in U.S. factories with union labor should create additional demand for electric vehicles.

* See Also: Blink Charging Shares Surge On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Revenue

* Recently, Cowen analyst Gabe Daoud raised the price target to $41 from $35 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The analyst said results were another strong top-line beat while gross margins are perhaps not a big focal point, they did decline.

* Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin upgraded Blink Charging to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $45 (implying 12% upside), up from $37, following the Q3 results.

* Irwin notes Blink's improving business momentum is likely to accelerate in 2H22 on greater availability to infrastructure subsidies.

* Irwin adds that the team's long tenure in EV charging positions it well to benefit from a constructive environment.

* Price Action: BLNK shares closed higher by 12.67% at $40.01 on Friday.