Hertz continues to suffer financially from bid to go electric, as J.P. Morgan downgrades stock

Ryan Brinkman, automotive equity research analyst with J.P. Morgan, downgraded Hertz Global Holdings from neutral to underweight Monday. 

The assessment, Seeking Alpha reports, comes as the company tries to reverse course from its failed EV strategy, which has cost the company as much as $1 billion. The losses stem from the vehicle’s high depreciation rates and high collision repair costs. The lack of spare parts for repairs is also undermining utilizations of the company’s electric fleet. 

Hertz stock price was down Tuesday a little over 73% over the past year. The rental giant announced in 2021 it would buy 100,000 EVs from Tesla, only to find lackluster interest from renters, as well as high repair costs. In January, Hertz announced it was selling off 20,000 of the vehicles, with prices as low as $25,000.