ChargePoint Holdings (Chapter 11.32%) Shares staged a dramatic comeback in July, rising a whopping 43.7%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That’s a huge rebound for a stock that lost a third of its value in the first half of 2024.

The electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure company has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months, including declining revenue and margins. So what changed so dramatically for ChargePoint in July?

ChargePoint is trying to turn things around

ChargePoint operates the largest electric vehicle charging network in the U.S. and passed the milestone of one million charging points installed in North America and Europe in July. But its stock rose sharply after the company announced management changes to “strengthen expertise in software-controlled electric vehicle charging.”

While the company also appointed a new chief development officer for software and a new member to its board of directors, investors were betting on the new chief financial officer (CFO), Mansi Khetani. An executive shakeup usually raises investors’ hopes of a turnaround for the company. Khetani joined ChargePoint in 2018 and was named interim CEO in November 2023, around the same time Rick Wilmer became the company’s new CEO.

ChargePoint stock also received a nice boost in July, alongside other EV stocks, after several EV manufacturers, especially from China, reported strong June delivery numbers. ChargePoint’s success is entirely dependent on the demand for EVs and charging infrastructure. Fears of a global slowdown in EV markets have been a major reason ChargePoint stock has taken a hit in recent months.

Should you buy ChargePoint stock?

ChargePoint is a loss-making company, and its path to profitability depends almost entirely on the speed of electric vehicle adoption and the electrification of the transportation sector. In between, competition is getting tougher, especially from Teslawhich is expanding its Supercharger network and opening it to electric vehicles from other manufacturers.

The dual challenge of a sluggish electric vehicle market and rising competition has already hurt ChargePoint’s operating performance – the company reported an 18% year-over-year revenue decline for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended April 30). Worse still, second-quarter guidance calls for a nearly 25% year-over-year revenue decline.

With that in mind, there’s little to justify the massive surge in ChargePoint stock in July. I’d call it a dead-cat bounce and expect the stock to continue to be volatile. In fact, it’s already down 20% in value at the time of writing in August. Ouch.