Which is the Evil twin and Good twin? Q1 2024 Results. Tesla finally released its Q1 2024 earnings and it was not a pretty sight. Actuals vs Wall Street expectations: (analysts surveyed by LSEG): Tesla Q1 2024 Revenue Revenue: $21.30 billion vs. $22.15 billion expected. (see above) Earnings per share: $0.45 (adjusted) vs. $0.51 expected. Operating profit margins: 5.5% vs. 6.6% expected Other Key Metrics and YoY comparison. A high-level comparison of other key earnings metrics shows the extent of the “bad” results. (see below) Revenue declined from $23.33 billion (YoY) and from $25.17 billion in Q4 2023. Net income dropped -55% from $2.51 billion to $1.13 billion YoY. EPS dropped -53.42% from $0.73 cents a share to $0.34 a share YoY. Free Cash Flow. Tesla’s free cash flow w

US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release US’s Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data for for March 2024 on Fri, 26 Apr 2024 morning. Is this reason why US market had a mixed performance on Wed, 24 Apr 2024, on the run up to inflation data release. (see below) By the time market called it a day: DJIA: -0.11% (-42.77 to 38,460.92) S&P 500: +0.02% (+1.08 to 5,071.63). Nasdaq: +0.10% (+16.11 to 15,712.75). *FYI, the PCE is the Fed’s go to reference material when shaping its monetary policy. Comparison. US Core CPI for March 2024 (3.8%) remained unchanged from February 2024 data and was +0.1% higher than Wall Street 3.7% expectations. What is the likelihood that Core PCE remain status quo at 2.8% or (better still) matches Market expectations of 2.6%? Afterall, the endgame o

Who could have predicted back in March that things will take a dip in April 2024. Back then, everyday was a new test for the 3 Composite Indexes as they kept breaking new grounds, testing new limits. In less than a month, the market has become worse off than it was. (see below) How Did It Begin? If you asked me, it started around 10 Apr 2024 when US’s March CPI inflation data was released. (see above) This time round it came in much higher to the surprised of analysts. Headline inflation (3.5%) was higher than analysts’ forecast (3.4%) and was definitely higher than February’s data (3.2%). Initially Mr Powell tried his best to calm the market with his dovish remarks; while his team mates were more hawkish. Eventually on 16 Apr 2024, Mr Powell had to concede that falling inflation has grin

Interesting graphics ? Are your eyes always darting around, looking for “interesting” post/s — when you are ready to read about the latest on the US market? Mine do because after a while, the “hot” topics are usually the ones that are covered to “death” by the media, leaving very little coverage for other US stocks. This week being the “Mega Cap” stocks’ reporting week, most of the coverage centred squarely on $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ whether we like it or not. Not to mention, the CEO always find the time to keep the spotlight on himself. So it was refreshing to find a post on $Microsoft(MSFT)$ with a captivating title as well. (see below) Tech Stock with AI Focus Microsoft, once known mainly for its compute

Party Ended? The 2024 stock market rally in stocks has come to a screeching halt. The $S&P 500(.SPX)$ index has fallen -4.6% in April 2024 so far. All 3 major US indexes are on track for their first negative month since October 2023: (see below) The Dow Jones’s gains chalked up in 2024 are wiped out (almost), left just +0.2%. S&P 500 index is still up +5.1%. Nasdaq still have a +3.9% gain YTD. Root Causes for the Tumble? April CPI data showed, inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target. Non farm payroll added a stunning 303,000 jobs in March, exceeding analysts’ expectations. A boost to oil prices from rising tension in the Middle East did not help either. US retail sales rose for the 2nd consecutive month, highlighting US

Elon Musk loves to make wild predictions about the future; without supporting evidences. A few have materialized, thanks to his talented team. For every prediction that came true, there are many that Musk would rather you forget. Recently, Musk was at it again! He claimed that super-smart artificial intelligence (AGI) could be here in just a year or two. This time, many experts disagree and think he is too optimistic. There's even a $10 million bet that AI won't be smarter than humans by 2025. Blasts from the past. Below are 9 incidences on how wrong Mr Visionaire could be. (1) Hyperloop to O’Hara. In 2013, Elon Musk shared his visions of a Hyperloop (a super-fast transportation system) on Twitter. (see above) Following year saw him with Chicago mayor unveiling a scale down version of it

$Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc.(FFIE)$  Looking Back ! Faraday Future (FFIE) is a US stock that gave me one hell of a ride. It is not even roller coaster, more of a downhill zipped line, all the way. I bought it because: -   When I thought It has fallen sufficiently, down -93%. -   I know it has very solid technical specifications for its EV. -   Its EV is “truly” the creme de la creme of EVs - advanced technology, great horsepower, plush interiors, sleek designs etc.. -   The technical details are its intellectual property (IP) and assets. Unfortunately, after 3 years in operations, it managed to churn out 10 EVs in 2023?  This average out to 0.83 EV per m

$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$  It has been a bloodshed week for Tesla. Its stock price has lost -13.6%, ending Fri, 19 Apr 2024 at $147.05 per share. (see below)  Reasons for decline: -   Analysts’ disbelief in Tesla’s Robotaxis vision. -   Tesla’s EV price adjustments over and over again. -   Cybertruck’s disasters. (1) Robotaxi. On 05 Apr 2024, Mr Musk tweeted to: -   Refute Reuters news that Tesla will not produce the budget EV targeted for mid 2025 delivery. -   A few hours later, tweeted “agreeing” with Reuter’s report of robotaxi reveal on 8 Aug 2024. In the ensuing week, Wall Street analysts weighed-in on Robotaxi. Many have openly expressed their less than op

It’s A “Mistake” ! I made the “mistake” of buying the dip on Thu, 18 Apr 2024 to add to my existing holdings on Basic materials stock - $Vale SA(VALE)$. According to $Morgan Stanley(MS)$, Chief Investment Officer, Mike Wilson, currently the 3 “stable” sectors will be: Energy ( $Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund(XLE)$ ). Materials ( $Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund(XLB)$ ). Industrials ( $Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund(XLI)$ ). As part of my diversification strategy in investment, I try my best to put my eggs in different baskets. I made the decision to “buy the dip” because I di

. LVMH Sales Slows. Sales growth for $LVMH-Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton(LVMUY)$ (owner of Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, etc.) slowed to 3% in Q1 2024, on an organic basis to 20.69 billion Euros (US$22 billion), matching analyst expectations. This came in lower than last year, 2023 when sales boomed due to China’s reopening after a super stringent Covid lockdown. Rising prices and a global slowdown are causing some luxury shoppers to hold back on expensive purchases. LVMH, Europe's 2nd-largest listed company (with nearly 400 billion Euros net worth) is the first luxury brand to report earnings, setting the overall tone for the luxury industry. LVMH Q1 2024 Earnings. Sales in Asia (excluding Japan) were down -6%, while Europe and US saw a slight increa

US Market Summary The stock market is not holding up well. All 3 major indexes have broken below their 50-day moving averages. (see below) US 3 Composite Indexes - Past One Month performance On Wed (17 Apr) when market closed: DJIA: -0.12% (-45.66 to 37,753.31). At its worst level since late January 2024. S&P 500: -0.58% (-29.20 to 5,022.21). At its worst level in 2 months. Nasdaq: -1.15% (-181.88 to 15,683.37). Fell below the 16k level, its worst in 2 months. What Happened to Semiconductors? Chip stocks were big losers Wed, 17 Apr 2024. $ASML Holding NV(ASML)$ has become the poster scapegoat as a result of its disappointing earnings and guidance. ASML Q1 2024. Company missed its sales forecast, although it insists its on-target for its FY2

S&P 500 Index. The $S&P 500(.SPX)$ index comprises of the 500 biggest companies in the US. It is considered to be a reference point for overall health of US market, showing how the world's largest businesses are performing. For a company, getting inducted into the S&P 500 is a big milestone because it represents major validation for a company and its business. Eligibility requirements for inclusion into the index are no small feat. $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$, a subject matter expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been eligible for S&P 500 inclusion for quite some time. For reasons unknown, it has not been shortlisted yet. The next S&P 500 rebalancing will take place in J

The Big Mystery. The mystery concerning this FAANG & Magnificent 7 groupie Tech giant is (a) will it continue to languish in 2024 or (b) will it be able to turn things around, just like it had in the past. Investors’ main grouse about Apple Inc is its perceived lack of development in the AI-sphere. Practically, its peers eg. $NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$ , $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ , $Alphabet(GOOG)$ etc…have jumped onto the AI-bandwagon and are humming the same tune. The synergy serves to reinforce each other, pulling all their stock prices up the ladder in the process. Even “ambitious” $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ that harboured am

Even before my Sunday post on Tesla has fallen off the chart (click here ! to read), more bad news have emerged from the electric car maker. (see below) The Great Layoff. Based off an internal memo, Tesla is laying off > 10% of its workforce. As it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for EVs. A war (price) that was kickstarted by Tesla (lest we forget). Still finding time to take to Twitter, the CEO said “about every 5 years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth“. The last job cut was back in 2022 after the CEO had a bad premonition - a "super bad feeling" about the US economy.

$Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc.(FFIE)$  When US market closed on Fri, 12 Apr 2024 - this is how Faraday Future stood from financial standpoint: Shares price - $0.08. 1-year low: $0.08. 1-year high: $117.36. Debt-to-equity ratio: 0.39. 50-day moving average price: $0.17. 200 day moving average price: $1.22. Market capitalization: $3.39 million. PE ratio: 0.00 Beta: 1.45. On Mon, 15 Apr 2024, Faraday Future is supposed to be reporting its Quarterly earnings. Is it true ? I dunno for sure. On the eve of a possible announcement, we could review its earnings so far. (see below) Since day 1, Faraday Future has never made a profit. Its losses increased in the first 3 years of operations. While it is usuall

Communications in the most abstract form. I admit. I have a difficult time writing this post. This is because it’s about looking at available inflation data quickly and making an “educated” high-level guess whether companies overall, will be reporting profits during quarterly earnings season. Below is my maiden attempt. Stay the course, with me? Hee hee. Inflation Definition. By definition: CPI - measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. PPI - measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. Inflation Reports. US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for March 2024, was released on Wed, 10 Apr 2024. Headline CPI: was 3.5% vs 3.4% expected vs 3.2% (F

$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$  Looking Back. On Fri, 05 Apr 2024 - Tesla CEO, Elon Musk tweeted to deny Reuters’ report that it (Tesla) is abandoning the plan to build the budget EV (Model 2). Hours later, (just before 5pm ET), he tweeted again to confirm that it will unveil its Robotaxis on 08 Aug 2024.  Tesla stock price - 8 April to 12 April By then, Tesla has ended the week falling -3.63% to $171.05 per share. (see above) Post tweet, its future price immediately rose by +1.65%.  The week of Apr 8 - 12, saw Tesla’s rollercoaster performance. It reached a high of $176.88 (on Tue, 09 Apr 2024), only to dip to the week’s low of $171.05 (on Fri, 12 Apr 2024). (see above) Now that the dusts of euphoria have settled,

$JPMorgan Chase(JPM)$  A very strange phenomena happened on Fri, 12 April 2024. US banking giant JP Morgan kick started Financial services sector companies’ Quarter earnings season. Q1 2024 Earnings. It posted profit & revenue that topped Wall Street estimates. Credit costs and trading revenue came in better than expected. Results, along with estimates from analysts surveyed by LSEG (Refinitiv): - Earnings: $4.44 per share, vs. $4.11 expected. Exceeding by +8.03%. - Revenue: $42.55 Billion, vs. $41.85 billion expected. YoY Comparison. Q1 2024 profit rose +6% to $13.42 billion or EPS of $4.44; boosted (of course) by its takeover of $First Republic Bank(FRC)$ &nb