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☆ EV startups conserve cash as make-or-break moment approaches. Here's where everyone stands
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( John Rosevear | In Jrosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

As legacy automakers increasingly ramp production of all-electric vehicles, cushioned by the profits of gas-powered models, a handful of EV startups are scrambling to conserve cash and stay in the mix. It also means the amount of cash Fisker had left as of the end of March, $652.5 million, isn't yet cause for alarm. Still, Fisker cut its production guidance for 2023 to between 32,000 vehicles and 36,000 vehicles, from 42,400 in its original plan. Or as Evercore ISI analyst Doug Dutton wrote before Fisker's earnings report, "Fisker is beginning to turn into a story of binary and 'show me' outcomes." It had $108.1 million remaining as of the end of March, but it lost $171.1 million in the first quarter .

Persons: Tesla, Rivian, Claire McDonough, Rivian's, It's, McDonough, Deutsche Bank's Emmanuel Rosner, Rosner, Sherry House, Peter Rawlinson, Bank of America's John Murphy, Murphy, Aston Martin, Henrik Fisker, Fisker, Doug Dutton, Dutton, Nikola Nikola, Trevor Milton, Nikola, Voltera, TD Cowen, Jeffrey Osborne, Osborne, Polestar Polestar, it's, Johan Malmqvist isn't, aren't, Deutsche Bank's Rosner, Lordstown, Foxconn, Foxconn doesn't Organizations: EV, Amazon, Deutsche, Lucid's, Bank of America's, BMW, Global, Magna International, Nikola, Iveco, Volvo Cars, Geely, Lordstown, Nasdaq, General Motors Locations: Georgia, Magna, Austria, U.S, Europe, North America, Nikola's, Swedish, China, Ohio, Lordstown

☆ Vietnam EV maker VinFast sees sales boom, path to breakeven
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Phuong Nguyen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Vuong projected sales of between 40,000 and 50,000 cars this year, up from EV sales of about 7,400 in 2022 when the company's only market was Vietnam. In addition, Vuong said VinFast planned to add two other models to its lineup: an electric pickup truck and a battery-powered city or "mini car." VinFast, which began operations in 2019, has a plant in Vietnam and plans for a second plant to open in North Carolina in 2025. An electric pickup truck would face competition from Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O), Ford Motor Co's (F.N) F-150 Lightning and other models. The entry-level, small EV would face competition from Chinese-made electric vehicles, including from BYD.

☆ Elon Musk says he’s found a new CEO for Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk on Thursday said he’s found a new CEO to take over Twitter, months after he first promised to step back from the role. The new CEO will assume the role at Twitter Inc., which recently changed its name to X Corp., in the coming weeks, Musk said. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk said in a tweet. Musk has faced criticism for a series of policy changes at Twitter, which often came without clear justification and raised concerns about the impact on Twitter’s users. Even as Musk prepares to step back from the CEO role, he will likely maintain significant control over the future direction of the company.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Western Alliance, Berkshire Hathaway, Wix & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"We are initiating coverage of ZI with a BUY rating and a $30 target as a rare value investment within software. Citi upgrades Deutsche Bank to buy from neutral Citi said the global investment bank is at an "attractive entry point." " Deutsche Bank is one of the most de-rated banks YTD, yet the 1Q23 results demonstrated potential for further consensus earnings upgrades." Rosenblatt reiterates Apple as buy Rosenblatt said it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings on Thursday after the bell. " CFRA reiterates Berkshire Hathaway as hold CFRA said it's standing by its "fairly valued" hold rating heading into Berkshire earnings on Saturday.

☆ Euro zone factory downturn deepened in April - PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone factory activity contracted further last month, albeit not by as much as initially thought, while the cost of raw materials fell at the fastest pace in nearly three years, a survey showed on Tuesday. The HCOB final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 45.8 in April from March's 47.3, just beating a preliminary reading of 45.5 but well below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction for a 10th consecutive month. Input costs falling at the fastest pace since May 2020 meant factories barely increased their prices yet demand still weakened. The output prices index fell to a 29-month low of 51.6 from 53.4. That's because both the PMI flash services price data for April and the Eurostat data available through March for services inflation continue to reflect significant price pressures," de la Rubia added.

☆ Is it smarter to get a tax refund in 2023 or more money throughout the year? Tax experts weigh in
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Namely, you'd be wise to assess your withholding, tax experts say. To adjust your withholding, you'll have to file a new W-4 form with your company. If you instructed your employer to withhold too much throughout 2022, you got a tax refund; too little and you owed a bill. You can use the IRS's withholding estimator tool to give yourself a good idea of your breakeven number. But depending on your financial habits, you may want to adjust to receive a refund or owe a bill, tax experts say.

[1/5] People look at handbags on display outside shops in a market, ahead of Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar SoomroKARACHI, Pakistan, April 20 (Reuters) - Retail sales in Pakistan have witnessed a sharp drop compared to previous years in the run up to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, retailers say, as shoppers feel the pinch of decades-high inflation. The lead up to Eid al-Fitr, expected to fall on Saturday in Pakistan to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, traditionally sees the highest sales of the year. Asfandyar Farrukh, co-founder of CAP and managing director of Hub, a leather goods store, said that Eid shopping appears to have started sooner and peaked earlier, coinciding with salary pay days, and customers anticipating price increases. The sales drop adds to the slowing of Pakistan's $350 billion economy, which has struggled in recent months amidst tough stabilisation polices, including the central bank raising interest rates to a historic high of 21%.

☆ Interest in joining Twitter has plunged after surging when Elon Musk took over last year, Google data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google searches for "Twitter sign up" have fallen 81% since peaking last November. But those relating to joining Twitter appear to be less common than before the acquisition. Interest in joining Twitter has plunged in the six months since Elon Musk's takeover, according to Google Trends data compiled by the web-hosting company Fasthosts. Google Trends' index for searches of "Twitter sign up" has plummeted 81% from a November peak, just weeks after the world's second-richest person took control of the social-media company. The search index for "Twitter verification" has also fallen a drastic 96% in the same period, as Musk introduced the controversial Twitter Blue subscription.

☆ Britain's Superdry considering 20% equity raise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) - Struggling British fashion brand Superdry (SDRY.L) said on Friday a potential equity raise of up to 20% backed by founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton was among funding options being considered. The group, whose shares have fallen 37% over the last year, also withdrew its profit guidance of "broadly breakeven" for its current year and is now forecasting revenue in the range of 615 million pounds to 635 million pounds ($771-$796 million). Superdry, which had warned on profit in January, said retail sales in February and March, did not meet its expectations. Superdry also said it has also identified cost savings of over 35 million pounds. "My belief in the Superdry brand is stronger than ever which is why I’m prepared to provide material support to any equity raise undertaken," he added.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is roughly breaking even. That looks like vindication for his haphazard management but he'll need a sharper plan to get to profitability.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk's reign of chaos at Twitter may have saved it from collapse, but there's a long way to go. This was better than the $1.1 billion Twitter lost in 2020, but still indicative of the firm's struggle for consistent profitability. Another, possibly terminal, issue: Musk seems not to have quite figured out what he wants Twitter to be. But if he wants Twitter to make money consistently, Musk needs users coming back for the long run. Chaos won't do that.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: MongoDB, American Airlines and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Employees of American Airlines help check in passengers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 11, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Here's a look at some of the stocks making the biggest moves on Wednesday. MongoDB — Shares jumped 9.4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded MongoDB to overweight from equal weight, citing the software company's leadership in cloud optimization initiatives. American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , United Airlines — Shares of the major airline companies were under pressure on Wednesday after American Airlines updated its first-quarter guidance. Shares of American fell more than 9%, while United dropped about 2% and Delta shed nearly 6%.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter takeover has been 'painful' but the company is now 'roughly breakeven'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk Twitter account seen on Mobile with Elon Musk in the background on screen, seen in this photo illustration. Elon Musk says that Twitter is close to becoming cash-flow positive after making sharp layoffs and working to lure advertisers back to the platform. "I'd say we're roughly breakeven at this point," Musk said Wednesday, during a live interview with the BBC recorded on Twitter Spaces. Musk said that Twitter will start removing blue checks from accounts without a subscription to the company's paid Twitter Blue service next week. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late October after a drawn-out legal battle with the company.

☆ Hyman: Earnings expectations are now flat vs. a year ago, and that's not a bad place to be
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHyman: Earnings expectations are now flat vs. a year ago, and that's not a bad place to beSimeon Hyman of ProShares Advisors says the performance of breakeven rates suggests this may be less about a contagion and recession and more about a credit contraction and acceleration of the reduction of inflation.

☆ The US oil and gas sector is stagnating as production slows amid low energy prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Wednesday Dallas Fed survey illustrated a slowdown in the US oil and gas sector to start 2023. Energy executives said oil production continued to increase but at a slower rate, the survey showed. "Growth in the oil and gas sector slowed to a crawl in the first quarter, as firms' faced increasing costs." "Our respondents also expressed a worsening view of the near-term outlook for the energy sector." March's financial tumult, starting with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, rattled the energy sector this month because it shifted broader economic outlooks, according to Gregory Brew, oil analyst at Eurasia Group.

☆ Buying the dip on energy stocks? Wall Street pros name their top picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Energy was the second-best-performing sector of the S & P 500 last week, as investors flocked back into the stocks amid a recent dip in oil prices. Thummel also likes two energy infrastructure stocks — Cheniere Energy and Energy Transfer . He likes Viper Energy Partners , which owns a royalty portfolio of oilfield assets. "Viper Energy has one of the largest backlogs of tier-one locations in the [Permian] basin. Viper Energy is thus able to leverage improving energy prices while having "strong" downside support, according to Davolos.

☆ Euro zone services firms enjoy buoyant March but factories struggle -flash PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Jonathan Cable | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File PhotoSummary Euro zone March flash PMI at 54.1, a 10-month highData adds to evidence euro zone will dodge recessionGrowth unbalanced, however, as factory activity fallsLONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - Business activity across the euro zone unexpectedly accelerated this month as consumers splashed out on services, but weakening demand for manufactured goods deepened the downturn in the factory sector, surveys showed. S&P Global's flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, bounced to a 10-month high of 54.1 in March from February's 52.0. SERVICES SHINEA PMI covering the euro zone's dominant services industry jumped to 55.6 this month from 52.7, well above all forecasts in the Reuters poll which had predicted a decline to 52.5. An index measuring output, which feeds into the composite PMI, slipped back below breakeven to 49.9 from last month's 50.1. The euro zone PMI input costs index slipped to 46.4 from 50.9.

☆ Turkey's Hepsiburada to prioritise profitability, customer retention -CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Turkey's only listed e-commerce platform Hepsiburada (HEPS.O) will prioritise profitability over rapid growth and step up efforts to retain customers who are being hit by soaring inflation. "My mandate here is to improve profitability", new Hepsiburada CEO Nilhan Onal Gokcetekin told reporters late on Wednesday. Gokcetekin said the path to improved profitability began with retaining customers through a company loyalty programme. However, Hepsiburada's net loss widened to 2.9 billion lira ($152 million) in 2022 from 2 billion lira a year earlier, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) narrowed to a loss of 2.6 billion from a 3.7 billion loss in 2021. That compares with a 7 million lira EBITDA loss in the last quarter of 2022.

Club holdings Apple (AAPL) Ford Motor (F) and Estee Lauder (EL) were in the news Thursday. Apple has primarily released its content directly on Apple TV+, with some projects getting limited runs in a handful of cinemas. The Club's take: We welcome Apple making smart, strategic investments that make Apple TV+ a more valuable streaming service to potential subscribers. Estee Lauder EL YTD mountain Estee Lauder stock performance year-to-date. The news: Citi outlined its bull and bear cases for Club holding Estee Lauder in a research note Thursday.

As the image shows, on an earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) basis, Ford Model e had a profit margin of roughly negative 40% in 2022. Ford Motor disclosed on Thursday that its electric vehicle unit, called Ford Model e, lost $2.1 billion in 2022 — and could lose as much as $3 billion in 2023. Here, step by step, is how Lawler said Ford expects Model e to get to a positive 8% EBIT profit margin in under four years:Scale. Ford expects to have the capacity to build EVs at a rate of 2 million per year by the end of 2026. Ford expects to have the capacity to build EVs at a rate of 2 million per year by the end of 2026.

Following Monday's trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 175 shares of PXD, increasing its weighting in the portfolio to 1.26% about from 1.09%. The stock has come down more than 6% since our last buy a week ago, which represented a repurchase of one-third of the shares we had sold a month prior. While the oil market is currently in surplus, an expected "sharp recovery" in oil demand could shift the market back into deficit in the second half of 2023, the International Energy Agency said last week. That's why we're stepping in now, while leaving room for an additional buy of Pioneer shares at a lower price. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Even though reading anything with certainty from such volatile prices is difficult right now, the runes of the bond market suggest unfolding banking stress will suppress inflation anyway - regardless of further central bank action. "That would be very much in line with what the central banks want." U.S. equivalents were steadier about 2.5%, but five-year "breakeven" inflation rates from the index-linked market fell to 2.3%. To be fair to central bank policymakers, their own early warning systems - such as the ECB's Composite Indicator of Systemic Stress - don't yet show any more pressure on the system than they did during last year's tightening. Armed with Thursday's trial run from the ECB, the Fed and BoE will now have to make that judgment next week.

☆ Oil plunge is bad for energy stocks but actually good for other areas of our portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The extent of the decline in West Texas Intermediate crude — down 5.5% to under $67 per barrel — seems overdone in an energy market that remains structurally undersupplied. Bad for energy stocks For now, we're holding onto our three oil exploration and production (E & P) stocks — Coterra Energy (CTRA), Devon Energy (DVN) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) — because their breakeven levels are around $40 per barrel. The big question is whether the federal government will make good on its signals to replenish the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at WTI prices below $70 per barrel. In turn, higher energy costs eat into discretionary spending budgets. Now, with energy costs coming down, we would expect these input costs to subside a bit.

☆ Instant View: U.S. February CPI increase leaves market guessing on Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Core CPI without food and energy prices increased 0.5% after rising 0.4% in January. Year over year core CPI gained 5.5% vs 5.6% in January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast monthly CPI and core CPI up 0.4%. So they're going to have to respond to the banking crisis that's probably just not over yet." If the Fed’s worried about saving face or coming off as wishy washy or worried about losing credibility with the market, they're going to raise by 25 basis points.

☆ 38-year-old mom launched a frozen yogurt startup from her kitchen—now she's a 'Shark Tank' CEO with a $1.5 million company
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The whipped, frozen Greek yogurt delicacy she put together became Sweetkiwi, a Dallas-based food startup founded in 2011. And on Friday's episode of ABC's "Shark Tank," Eigbe and her business partner — her husband, Michael Kindele — landed a $250,000 investment deal with Robert Herjavec valuing the company at more than $1.5 million. She initially offered the Sharks 5% of her company for that $250,000 investment, noting that the money would go toward brand-building and marketing. The duo expressed confidence despite their industry's heavy competition, noting that Sweetkiwi pints have less sugar than most other frozen yogurts. Herjavec's final offer was $250,000 for a 16% stake in the company — which Sweetkiwi accepted.

☆ Our two financials differ from failed Silicon Valley Bank. But we're not buying the dips yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is raising questions about the overall financial sector, which includes Club holdings Wells Fargo (WFC) and Morgan Stanley (MS). For now, we're waiting for the market to realize that Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley are different. However, Wells Fargo turned positive by day's end, gaining more than half of a percent. In this environment, startups were using up a lot of money that had been deposited in SVB bank accounts to run their businesses. People walk past a Wells Fargo bank on 14th Street on December 20, 2022 in New York City.

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