To The Moon

Taiwan’s TSMC (TW:2330) jumped over 3%, while South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) rose 1.6% and 3.7%, respectively, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the three firms will be allowed to maintain and upgrade their chipmaking infrastructure in China. The three, which are among the biggest chipmakers in the world, had initially gotten a one-year waiver to keep their Chinese infrastructure after the U.S. introduced export controls designed to limit Beijing’s access to the latest chip equipment. But the WSJ report said that this waiver had been indefinitely extended. All three firms have chip fabrication centers in the country, and rely on it heavily as a market and as a supply chain hub. The news of the extended waiver quells some concern

Tesla (TSLA) stock charged higher Friday following an announcement by General Motors that GM’s electric vehicles would be able to charge using Tesla (TSLA)’s charging network. That news following a similar announcement from Ford just two weeks before. The company’s stock was up about $12 a share, or 5% on the day, as of this writing. Both Ford and GM EV drivers will, for now, need special adapters to allow their vehicles to use Tesla chargers. Later, the automakers plan to build new electric vehicles that use Tesla-style chargers with no adapter needed. Users will presumaby pay for charging sessions, providing more revenue for Tesla. Tesla “is going to get, I don’t know, $2 billion to $3 billion of revenue just from these folks a year,” said Gary Silberg, a global automotive industry analy

US stocks have advanced so far this year but a slump in corporate earnings will stop the rally in its tracks by the end of the year, according to a team of Morgan Stanley strategists. Earnings per share (EPS) for the S&P 500 will fall 16% in 2023 as revenue growth slows and margins further contract, according to Andrew Sheets, the firm's chief cross-asset strategist and his team, as reported by Bloomberg. "While a deteriorating liquidity backdrop is likely to put downward pressure on equity valuations over the next three months, we also see EPS disappointment ahead as revenue growth slows and margins contract further," the strategists said in a Sunday note, per Bloomberg. US earnings now face downside risk, Sheet's team said, noting that the firm expects S&P 500 earnings per share

Elon Musk on Tuesday dismissed speculation that he might step down as Tesla's CEO and told the company’s annual shareholders meeting that the the electric car and solar panel company would start doing some advertising. “Say it ain’t so,” one shareholder asked Musk about stepping down as Tesla's leader. “It ain’t so,” he replied without further discussion. When another shareholder suggested that Tesla try advertising, Musk said he is open to it. “This has some merit,” he said to the shareholder at the meeting at Tesla's factory site near Austin, Texas. “We'll try a little advertising and see how it goes.” Tesla famously has avoided paying for advertising like its competitors, relying a lot on Musk's ability to generate free publicity — he has 140 million followers on Twitter, the social med

Tesla TSLA +2.57% shares have been on a wild ride lately as investors debate profit margins, price cuts and EV demand. Predicting what’s next is no easy task given all that, plus rising interest rates and persistent inflation. Stock charts and stock seasonality can help investors get a sense of whether or not they should just sell in May and come back and revisit shares later in the year. Neither are fundamental data points, but given how volatile Tesla (ticker: TSLA) stock is, and all the economic cross currents, investors will likely take whatever help they can get. Lately, things have been looking a little bleaker for bulls. Tesla shares are down about 25% from a 2023 high of $217.65. That high is up about 114% from a 2023 low of $101.81. The low came after disappointing deliveries and

Tesla’s Q1 2023 revenues and profits came in very close to expectations, based on a survey of analysts from Refinitiv. Tesla specified in a shareholder deck that “underutilization of new factories” stressed margins, along with higher raw material, commodity, logistics and warranty costs, and lower revenue from environmental credits, all contributing to the drop in earnings from last year. Tesla specified in a shareholder deck that “underutilization of new factories” stressed margins, along with higher raw material, commodity, logistics and warranty costs, and lower revenue from environmental credits, all contributing to the drop in earnings from last year. Automotive revenue, Tesla’s core segment, reached $19.96 billion in the quarter, up 18% from last year. Total revenue was up 24%. Reven

Tom Zhu has years of experience and the knowledge to fulfill his duties as Tesla’s Vice President of Automotive. He officially took up the mantle on April 2023. “Mr. Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014, and served in various operational roles before being appointed as Vice President, Greater China, where he led the construction and operations of Gigafactory Shanghai. Mr. Zhu holds a bachelor’s degree of commerce in information technology from the Auckland University of Technology and an M.B.A. from Duke University,” wrote Tesla in its SEC filing. Zhu quickly worked his way up Tesla, starting as the head of Tesla China when Gigafactory Shanghai was built. Under Zhu, Tesla’s Shanghai factory steadily ramped up Model 3 and then later Model Y production. Tesla China increased its income by over 100

A gauge of Asian shares fell as continuing concerns over the health of US banks snapped a four-day winning streak on Wall Street. New Zealand’s dollar rose after the central bank raised interest rates by more than expected. MSCI Inc.’s regional benchmark was set to end a six-day rally as it slipped about 0.4%, with finance stocks among the worst performers Wednesday. Contracts for US equities steadied after the S&P 500 dropped 0.6%. Chinese markets are closed for a holiday. The greenback weakened against most Group-of-10 currencies, with the New Zealand and Australian dollars leading the gains. New Zealand’s currency advanced to the highest level since mid-February after an unexpected 50-basis-point interest-rate hike from the central bank. The government bonds rose. Investors are also

Tesla faced an onslaught of headwinds last year. Supply chain problems and factory closures hindered production, while high inflation and rising interest rates hammered sales across the auto industry. Tesla managed to grow deliveries 40% to 1.3 million vehicles, but that figure fell short of its medium-term guidance calling for 50% annual growth. Fourth-quarter deliveries also fell short of the Wall Street consensus by a wide margin. Some analysts have explained that shortfall as a demand problem, but management brushed those concerns aside during the latest earnings call. CEO Elon Musk said the company was receiving orders at nearly twice the rate of production. Better yet, despite encountering a number of roadblocks throughout the year, Tesla reported impressive financial results. Revenu

• The Federal Reserve is expected to increase interest rates by a quarter point Wednesday, even with concerns about stress in the banking system. • The central bank is also expected to release projections about the economy and the path of rate hikes, though some economists say it may have a difficult time making those forecasts due to uncertainty. • Investors are also looking for assurances from the Fed that the issues with regional banks will be contained. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates Wednesday by a quarter point, but it also faces the tough task of reassuring markets it can stem a worse banking crisis. Economists mostly expect the Fed will increase its fed funds target rate range to 4.75% to 5% on Wednesday afternoon, though some expect the central bank could p