Mobileye’s bullwhip will come for Nvidia too 4 Jan 2024 The maker of chips for autonomous-car systems warned that customer stockpiling would hit first-quarter revenue. Gluts are inevitable across the industry, but this one sent the Intel-backed company’s shares down 25%. AI-semiconductor suppliers are bound to face similar surpluses.
Capital Calls: Barclays, Rolls-Royce 28 Nov 2023 Concise views on global finance: Initial glimpses of the $27 bln UK bank’s new plan suggest it won’t gee shares that trade at 0.4 times tangible book value; the engine-maker’s CEO has set out bold profit targets as part of its strategy overhaul.
Capital Calls: Amazon shipping 27 Nov 2023 Concise views on global finance: The online retailing giant’s push to distribute packages itself has been a costly way to attract customers, but some numbers suggest it is becoming more efficient and speed is helping boost profit.
GM’s driverless ride heads into a ditch 21 Nov 2023 The carmaker’s robo-taxi unit is on pause after an accident; its two co-founders have left. As OpenAI’s drama shows, losing visionary leaders is a big problem. The silver lining: In GM’s case, investors never seemed to take the cash-guzzling Cruise division seriously anyway.
German auto ram-raid warrants careful driving 20 Oct 2023 Schaeffler is buying car-parts maker Vitesco, both controlled by the same family, for $4 bln. Minority shareholders can choose between a low price now or an uncertain future in a conglomerate. Schaeffler can probably get away with its smash and grab, but it might backfire later.
Capital Calls: Four-day workweek 19 Sep 2023 Concise views on global finance: US Senator Bernie Sanders joined striking autoworkers in urging a conversation about shortening the workweek. Rising productivity has long enabled labor to win fewer hours. With disruptive new technologies rising, bigger victories make sense.
VW and Xpeng get much-needed mutual fuel injection 27 Jul 2023 The $77 bln German carmaker has bought a 5% stake in $18 bln Xpeng. Access to the electric-vehicle maker’s technology could boost VW’s own flagging business in the People’s Republic. But Xpeng equally needs the cash to help withstand a fierce domestic EV price war.
Tesla’s new burden: shouldering the market 19 Jul 2023 The $920 bln automaker effectively jump-started the electric car market; now, it’s trying to sustain it, opening up its once-differentiating charging network and technology while driving down prices. That could grow the battery-powered pie but threatens Tesla’s share.
Detroit wisely gives up to Tesla this time 9 Jun 2023 General Motors joined rival Ford in adopting electric-car leader Tesla’s charging tech. It eases the path for their battery-powered divisions by ceding modest revenue to Elon Musk’s company. The risk is that other more lucrative parts of their vehicles will head the same way.
Tesla’s governance autopilot heads for disaster 17 May 2023 Despite a 60% drop from peak market value and Twitter distractions, shareholders backed the EV-maker’s board yet again. Boss Elon Musk’s indulgence of conspiracy theories and avowal to keep speaking his mind raise more red flags. The supine stance invites dangerous consequences.
Volkswagen has increasingly narrow recovery track 4 May 2023 The $77 bln German auto giant reported bumper revenue, but faces an era of slowing growth as slick rivals like Tesla expand. CEO Oliver Blume hopes to boost car sales by 15% and avoid a collapse in prices. Neither looks easy, but at least its stock is priced for the worst.
Automakers won’t go back to normal 4 Jan 2023 Covid-era shortages weren’t all bad for the industry. Prices soared amid tight supply, adding $7 bln to profits at GM alone. Car companies are trying to manage inventory so that supply and demand – now falling – will match up. They only have so much in their control.
Capital Calls: ABB, Italian budget 21 Nov 2022 Concise views on global finance: The $57 bln Swiss engineering group is selling a minority stake in its car charging unit, as a fallback to volatile IPO markets; premier Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government targets a budget deficit of 4.5% of GDP in 2023.
Capital Calls: Netflix struts 18 Oct 2022 Concise views on global finance: The $109 bln streaming service reversed its subscriber losing streak and reminded rivals of its first-mover advantage.
Capital Calls: SoftBank 14 Sep 2022 Concise views on global finance: The $62 bln conglomerate may be considering a third instantiation of its Vision Fund.
GM and Ford are now juggling three crises 27 Jul 2022 The U.S. automakers are starting to figure out Covid-driven shortages – that was the first pickle. But long-term risks to both pricing and lithium supplies will make it more difficult to efficiently grow EVs. Plus pent-up demand only covers for a weakening consumer for so long.
Online used-car vendors have run out of road 12 Jun 2022 Shares in Carvana and Cazoo have lost 80% or more this year. That’s a nasty collision with reality for loss-making companies once worth eight times their sales. With debt costs rising and an economic slowdown threatening demand, there’s no way back.
SoftBank’s Cruise exit hits self-driving cars hard 21 Mar 2022 Selling its Vision Fund stake in the autonomous unit to largest owner GM is a reminder of the Japanese group’s woes. And the carmaker had to inject $3.5 bln it could have used elsewhere. Any lingering hope that driverless cars are just around the corner is the biggest casualty.
CNH pays hefty price for driverless tractor ride 21 Jun 2021 The Italian-American agricultural equipment group is paying $2.1 bln for Raven Industries, which makes tech for autonomous farm machines. With few cost savings, the multiple of almost 40 times EBITDA looks rich. CNH will need a big sales boost to harvest a decent return.
Elon Musk has the right amount of market cynicism 27 Jan 2021 Tesla’s CEO is often flippant about share price moves – whether his own or other so-called meme stocks like GameStop. But the automaker’s first full year of positive profit suggests Musk is working in shareholders’ long-term interests. That matters even if the stock bubble pops.