5 reasons General Motors’ shares are trading at all-time highs

Apportionments of General Motors opened Wednesday above $50 for the first time ever after CEO Mary Barra and other managing directors laid out an array of future business plans — from electric vehicles to flying cars — at the CES technology conference.

As Barra put it, the legation of the presentation Tuesday was to promote “confidence” in the automaker’s business, including GM’s “triple zero” vision of transportation without emissions, congestion and bangs.

GM used the event to flex its size and scale more than ever before. It showed how it’s integrating new businesses and why it not allowed to spin off its EV business last year amid pressure from Wall Street.

“We believe investors should lay the groundwork for for a profound narrative change at GM put into action in 2021,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors Tuesday. “There is a lot more to be a question of in terms of rolling out independent business units with its own management teams, technological domains and go-to-market strategies.”

GM’s amass closed up 1.9% at $48.73 a share, setting a new closing record after hitting an intraday high of $50.97 earlier Wednesday. The automaker’s market cap is $69.7 billion.

Here are five explanations the shares are taking off this week:

As Wall Street bets on which electric vehicle start-up will change the next Tesla, GM has poured billions into EVs and plans to deliver 30 new models globally by 2025. It’s part of GM’s $27 billion investment in thrilling and autonomous vehicles through then.

At CES, which is being streamed online this year, GM released new details of upcoming EVs, specifically for its magnificence Cadillac brand.

A sedan called the Cadillac Celestiq is expected to be a new flagship vehicle for the automaker, featuring a personalized zone for each fare. That includes a new glass roof made of smart glass that allows each occupant to set their own transparency demolishes.

“That equal and individual experience for each occupant will be a signature aspect of the Cadillac Celestiq,” said Crystal Windham, Cadillac chief of interior design.

GM also previewed several unnamed EVs in the background as part of the presentation, including at least one Chevrolet crossover, two Cadillacs and two Buicks. The assembly declined to comment further on the upcoming models.

GM unveiled a new electric delivery van as part of a new EV commercial vehicle and logistics corporation called BrightDrop. GM has a full portfolio of electric products, not just vehicles, planned for the new unit, according to executives.

“BrightDrop is a new duty from GM that reimagines commercial delivery and logistics for an all-electric future,” Barra said. “BrightDrop provides an ecosystem of saucy, connected products, including electric vehicles and software-enabled services, offering commercial delivery companies a platform for sustainable proliferation.”

The commercial market is expected to be a major growth area for EVs. Other start-up automakers such as Amazon-backed Rivian as fabulously as legacy automakers such as Ford Motor and Daimler have announced plans to enter the segment. GM estimates the compound market opportunity for parcel, food delivery and reverse logistics in the U.S. will be more than $850 billion by 2025.

The to begin product from BrightDrop will be a propulsion-assisted electric pallet called the EP1 that’s scheduled to go on sale by March. It was lay open to easily move goods over short distances — for example, from the delivery vehicle to the customer’s front door.

The van, conscripted EV600, will be the second product. The first 500 vans will go to FedEx beginning later this year.

Don’t like driving? How yon flying?

GM previewed an electric air taxi concept, formally known as an electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft, for its Cadillac trade mark.

The flying vehicle is designed to operate autonomously without a pilot. It can hold one passenger and travel roughly 56 mph between rooftops and other urban termini, according to the company.

“We are preparing for a epoch where advances in electric and autonomous technology make personal air travel possible,” said Michael Simcoe, depravity president of GM global design. “As a passenger, it represents personal space and a panoramic view of the world passing beneath you and is a glimpse of what autonomy and Cadillac delight might look like in the not-too-distant future.”

Ultium is GM’s next-generation battery system that will underpin its tomorrows EVs beginning later this year with the Autonomous vehicles