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Tesla Stock Continues To Lose Spark, Tumbles To 2-Year Low

Loading the player… Electric-car maker Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) was once a high-flying stock, but after months of moving more or less sideways, the stock has now punctured its lowest level in two years. The downturn comes as analysts raise concerns over deliveries and demand, with Pacific Crest downgrading the stock to sell on Wednesday. And on Tuesday Morgan Stanley, which had been very bullish on Tesla in the past, slashed its price target to 333 from 450. Shares plunged 5.1% in heavy volume, hitting their lowest level since February 2014. Shares are now trading about 40% below their July high, reached as the stock failed to break out of a base. Tesla stands apart from other car manufacturers as a luxury electric-car maker, but it has also been at the forefront of the implementation of self-driving technology. Others are in pursuit, including Mobileye ( MBLY ), Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google, Baidu ( BIDU ) and potentially Apple ( AAPL ). Mobileye is trading 60% below its high reached in August. Shares have been seeing heavy volume on many down days. Alphabet dropped 4%, sinking below the key 50-day line in quick turnover and erasing much of its gains from the past four sessions. Alphabet had hit a record high Tuesday intraday. Baidu is trading over 30% below its 52-week high. Shares have been trending lower since November. Apple has also been trending lower for the past several months and is 28% below its April peak. But shares are up today, pushing Apple’s market cap back above Alphabet’s once again after the Google parent grabbed that crown on Tuesday. Tesla reports quarterly earnings in one week.

Apple Suppliers NXP, Qorvo Fall On iPhone 6S Weakness

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone 6S tornado hit shares of chipmakers  NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ), a Goldman Sachs analyst wrote Wednesday ahead of the duo’s quarterly earnings reports. Both are expected to report 16% dips in December-quarter sales and earnings that fell by double digits during the holiday season. “Smartphone-exposed stocks have been under pressure recently after a slew of negative pre-announcements among suppliers with heavy Apple exposure,” Toshiya Hari of Goldman Sachs wrote in a research report. But Hari sees the potential for a “snap-back” as “investors digest Apple’s weak Q1 and begin to look at what we believe will be a relatively strong 2016 overall.” NXP Semiconductors fell 2.9% on the stock market today  ahead of its late Wednesday Q4 earnings report. Qorvo stock closed down 0.2% and is scheduled to report fiscal Q3 earnings late Thursday. Apple for its part, rose 2% on Wednesday. For its December quarter, NXP is expected to report $1.29 billion in sales and $1.07 earnings per share ex items, down 16% and 21%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. The consensus view of 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was relatively in line with NXP’s three-months-ago guidance for a sales decline of “low to mid-teens,” sequentially. For the year, analysts model $5.78 billion in sales and $5.43 EPS minus items, up 2% and 14%, respectively, vs. 2014. Hari rates NXP stock a neutral as it continues realizing synergies from its recently completed acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor. The merger reduced NXP’s Apple exposure by essentially half, Hari noted. He expects NXP to mount up on its automotive content, expected to grow by 9% CAGR over the next three years. Advanced driver assistance systems, infotainment and autonomous vehicles will drive that growth. Late Thursday, Qorvo is expected to report $620.3 million in sales and 94 cents EPS ex items for its fiscal Q3. On a year-over-year basis, sales would dip 16% and EPS would be down 37%. Qorvo, Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ) and Dialog Semiconductor drove smartphone pressure with their negative pre-announcements late last year. Qorvo reduced its fiscal Q3 sales guide to $620 million from earlier views for $720 million to $730 million. The company didn’t reduce its EPS ex items guide for $1.25 to $1.30. Hari downgraded Qorvo stock to neutral from a buy rating on its “disadvantage to Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) … given (Qorvo’s) ongoing integration and Skyworks’ ability to leverage its portfolio of adjacent analog products to provide more complete solutions to handset (smartphone-makers).” Qorvo was created in January 2015 with the merger of RFMD and TriQuint, and competes against radio-frequency (RF) chip suppliers Skyworks and Avago Technologies ( AVGO ). RF content in smartphones is expected to grow 9% and 14% in 2016 and 2017, Hari estimated. That’s against an 0.4% decline in smartphone unit growth in 2016 vs. 1.4% growth in 2015, he wrote. Although Qorvo’s portfolio is more complete post-merger, Hari questioned the timeline on synergies. The company guided to $150 million in synergies in 2017 with $75 million realized in 2015.

Tesla Stock Turns Low-Rider Before Earnings, As Demand Questioned

Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) stock plunged almost 7% Wednesday afternoon, after Tuesday skidding 7.2% to its lowest close since May 2014. That’s after analysts cut some views and raised questions on Model X deliveries — and the limits of demand for the popular Model S. In the last hour of Wednesday’s regular session, Tesla stock was down about 6% near 172. The electric car maker is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings after the stock market close Feb. 10. Last week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla CEO Elon Musk exercised options to buy and hold about $100 million more Tesla stock than he already had, while paying a hefty tax bill (and in effect diluting the stock outstanding). Tesla has interesting times ahead this year: Its planned Model 3 unveil, for one thing. For another, scoping out some kind of partnership in China  so it can set up a car manufacturing plant there. Tuesday, Tesla’s China blog announced a Model X debut for the Chinese market, and invited orders. But for now stateside, analyst outlooks are getting tweaked ahead of that Q4 report. Analysts Tally Tesla In research that circulated Wednesday, Berenberg started Tesla with a sell rating and price target of 165, with analyst Adam Hull mentioning concerns about valuation and competition , and favoring  Daimler ( DDAIF ) and Volkswagen ( VLKAY ), according to a report. In a research note distributed Monday night, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson asked, in his report headline: “Does TSLA Have a Demand Problem?” He wrote that after doing channel checks, he’s more cautious on Tesla stock, and lowered estimates. “We can’t overstate the importance of the March 29 Model 3 unveiling,” he added, referring to the smaller and more affordable vehicle that Tesla is planning, expected to sell for around $35,000. But, “we remain suspicious of underlying demand and would continue avoiding TSLA,” he wrote. Analysts question how soon the Model 3 can roll off the assembly line. There’s potential competition ahead from other automakers — such as General Motors’ ( GM ) long-range Chevrolet Bolt — and maybe at some point an Apple ( AAPL ) car. Erickson noted that Tesla’s Model S sedan, which like the Model X SUV sells for north of $70,000, “may be approaching its run-rate ceiling.” He lowered estimates through 2020, curbing his Tesla revenue outlook from a prior view of $5.325 billion for 2015 to $5.28 billion. For 2020, he sees revenue of $24.273 billion instead of his prior view of $30.775 billion. On Monday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas slashed his target price on Tesla stock to 333 from 450, reports noted, citing concerns about extra costs tied to the Model X launch delay. The recently debuted crossover SUV is Tesla’s third vehicle after the Roadster sports car and Model S sedan. Jonas cut his view for Tesla’s overall 2016 vehicle deliveries to a little over 70,000 units — 56,000 of the Model S and 15,000 of the Model X — down from his previously forecast 18,500, a press report said. Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry said in a Jan. 31 research report that 30,000 people have so far reserved the Model X. He wrote that “Model X production is still probably between 250 and 300 units per week” with the focus seeming to be “to get the quality right, rather than immediately ramp up production.” Stifel analyst James Albertine rates Ford ( F ) and Tesla as buy, with a $193.56 price target for Tesla, as of a Jan. 27 research note. Tesla stock is down 28% this year, and not highly ranked by IBD, with a Composite Rating of 30 out of a possible 99. That’s after an 8% Tesla stock gain in 2015, a 48% rise in 2014, and a 344% gain in 2013. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for, on average, EPS of 10 cents in Tesla’s Q4 report, up from a 13-cent loss a year ago. They see a $1.27 loss for 2015, then project EPS of $1.71 for 2016. Fourth-quarter 2015 sales are anticipated at $1.79 billion, up 64%, with 2015 coming in at revenue of $5.35 billion and 2016 at $8.62 billion. RELATED: CEO Elon Musk Adds Huge Tesla Stock Stake Ahead Of Earnings . With Tesla Earnings Ahead, Truck Could Follow Model 3 .