If you’re searching for future mobility stocks to buy now, look no further. The catalysts pushing the development of future mobility stocks forward are clear. People want to get where they’re going faster than ever before and do so while releasing less carbon than ever. People around the globe spend substantial amounts of time behind the wheel. For example, in Munich commuters spend an average of 87 hours on the road annually. In Los Angeles, that figure rises to 119 hours per year.
Two types of vehicles are dominating the discussion around future mobility today. Electric vehicles (EVs) and flying cars have the attention of investors. 2024 promises to be particularly strong for these stocks. The macroeconomic environment is shifting rapidly toward benefiting growth stocks and mobility overall.
Future Mobility Stocks: Archer Aviation (ACHR)
Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) has emerged as one of the leading firms in the race to develop Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing vehicles (eVTOLs). The company’s vehicles look a lot like a sort of hybrid helicopter powered by electric engines. The company’s goal is to deploy 6000 vehicles by 2030.
Archer Aviation and its competition are scrambling to quickly develop both vehicles and alliances commercially and publicly. On the commercial side, Archer Aviation has forged a strong partnership with United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL). The Chicago-based airline was Archer’s first customer and made an order for 100 Archer Aviation vehicles.
Archer Aviation has developed a strong relationship with the military. Earlier this summer Archer Aviation penned a contract worth $142 million.
The first installment of that contract, valued at $1 million, was paid in early October. Archer Aviation delivered a flight simulator to the Air Force.
Investing in Archer Aviation is clearly risky based on the fact that its shares trade for under $10 each. The flip side of course is that they have substantial upside.
Tesla (TSLA)
In my mind, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Is the first place any investor should look when considering EV stocks.
Tesla recently began manufacturing its Cybertruck which is the best place to start when discussing the company. Investors really want to know whether the vehicle will help or hurt Tesla in the long run.
Demand for the Cybertruck is very, very strong. There are somewhere around 2 million pre-orders for the vehicle. It has been noted that if only 15% of those pre-orders are fulfilled, then Tesla’s truck Sales will equal those of Toyota (NYSE:TM).
Tesla continues to do things its way and continues to float convention. The Cybertruck has a look and style that’s all its own and is certainly polarizing. Yet, given pre-order volume, it’s hard to argue against the notion that the vehicle could substantially improve Tesla’s financials at some point in the future.
The effect won’t be immediate. Estimates are that Tesla could deliver 250 of the vehicles this year, as many as 75,000 in 2024, and perhaps as many as 250,000 in 2025.
Future Mobility Stocks: Joby Aviation (JOBY)
Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) is competing with Archer Aviation to develop eVTOLs to be sold commercially and publicly. I’d argue that the companies and stocks are essentially neck and neck when it comes to the development of flying cars. A lot could happen in the next few years. Both companies could succeed, both could fail, or either may succeed.
Joby Aviation’s development looks very similar to that of Archer Aviation. Again, both companies have significant contracts with the military. Joby Aviation has a contract with The Department of Defense valued at $131 million.
The company is one of many working to bring manufacturing back to the upper midwest. Joby Aviation has been offered as much as $325 million in support of manufacturing in the Dayton, Ohio area.
The company had roughly $1.1 billion in liquidity at the end of the third quarter. Operational costs reached nearly $344 million through the first nine months of 2023. Thus, the company’s current liquidity covers it operationally for the next two years at least.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) continues to be an ever-flowing stream of information for investors. Most of that information is good and points to the idea that it continues to be one of the strongest stocks to invest in. In 2023, the majority of that news was related to Microsoft’s emergence as perhaps the most important company in relation to artificial intelligence (AI).
Chances are if you’re reading about Microsoft it’ll probably touch on AI. Azure will come up, as will OpenAI. Otherwise, you might end up reading about its purchase of Activision and the Call of Duty series. Somewhere far down that list you will start to find information that relates to Microsoft and its mobility services. That is, if you think about Microsoft and mobility at all.
At the same time, it’s probably unsurprising to know that Microsoft is developing such services. the future of mobility is really about data and Microsoft is one of the largest data companies on the face of the planet. Microsoft sells packages to help mobility service providers better understand the data that relates to the mobility sector. Azure is the second most powerful Cloud behind that of AWS and provides vast quantities of data upon which mobility services will continue to be built.
Future Mobility Stocks: Apple (AAPL)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to develop the much anticipated Apple car. The company and stock are best known for iPhones, iMacs, and more, but fully intends to get a slice of the EV pie.
As it stands today projections suggest that the Apple car, AKA “Project Titan”, could be released in 2024. It is expected that the vehicle won’t launch until 2026 or later. In other words, Apple is unlikely to derive substantial revenues from EVs perhaps at any point this decade.
The entire project has a history of disappointing investors. Rumors surrounding the projects have gone through many iterations. In short, investors don’t really know what to expect from the project. Rumors have ranged from an infotainment system to be sold to vehicle manufacturers all the way up to a fully autonomous vehicle with deep iPhone and Siri integrations.
It continues to really simply be a guess at this point and is often referred to as a moonshot project. Nevertheless, Apple is one of the largest tech companies with deep pockets and technological resources at its fingertips. That means the Apple car has every chance of becoming commercially successful.
QuantumScape (QS)
QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) is going to remain one of the more controversial mobility stocks for investors. It’s clearly a contrarian consideration at the moment. Headlines are focused on the fact that current prices are far lower than they were just a few short years ago.
A lot has changed in that time span but QuantumScape still offers the same disruptive potential. The solid state batteries that QuantumScape is developing have the potential to triple the energy density of current generation EV batteries.
The future of the company remains up in the air. The company is partnered with Volkswagen and aims to possibly have its batteries commercially available by 2025 per the latest information. However, it’s also noted that that is subject to change.
The good news is that QuantumScape batteries have already exceeded their commercialization targets. The company set initial commercialization targets of $800 full cycles at 80% energy retention. Current data shows that those batteries achieved 95% energy retention after 1,000 cycles.
Albemarle (ALB)
For investors who don’t currently have a position, Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) stock is just about as sure thing as there is. Albemarle is the world’s largest lithium producer and it does hold significant sway over the markets. Of course, lithium prices have cratered and pulled share prices lower as a result.
The combination of those two factors makes Albemarle an obvious contrarian play at the moment. The only way that Albemarle doesn’t provide substantial returns for investors is if the EV market essentially totally collapses. The likelihood of that happening is incredibly small and instead, rebound and lithium prices is expected.
Metrics heavy website gurufocus.com suggests that Albemarle has the potential to triple in price from current levels. ALB shares currently trade for $145 and it wasn’t that long ago, in late 2022, that they traded for $325. For investors who have not yet established a position and are willing to wait a year or two, ALB shares are a high return, low-risk proposition.
On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.