Tag Archives: technology

Tesla Stock, Lifted By The Model 3 Launch, Hit By Model X Recall

Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) stock powered up in morning trading Monday in the afterglow of its Model 3 launch, then took a hit as a new Model X recall came to light. Tesla rose as much as 3.6% in the stock market today , then dipped and fluctuated in the afternoon, closing down 0.1% at 249.92 as the major stock indexes also edged down. Tesla stock is 14% off a Sept. 14 all-time high of 291.42. Tesla has climbed to an IBD Composite Rating of 61 out of a possible 99 and the stock is building the right side of a long, deep base — though Tesla’s string of quarterly losses is weighing its Composite Rating down. Tesla’s CR leads automakers, with Fiat Chrysler ( FCAU ) next at a 56, Ford ( F ) with a 53, General Motors ( GM ) with a 47 and China electric-car maker Kandi Technologies Group ( KNDI ) with a 46. Model X Recall Tesla said Monday that the recliner in a third-row Model X seat unexpectedly slipped in a seat-test strength test. Tesla issued a voluntary recall of 2,700 Model X vehicles, according to a Bloomberg report citing an email to affected customers . “Until the recall is performed, you may make full use of your Model X, although we ask that you temporarily not have anyone sit in the third-row seats while the car is in use,” Bloomberg reported the email as saying. The Model X crossover started shipping to customers in September. Recalls are pretty common. Carmakers issued 30 of them covering 6.9 million vehicles industrywide in February, the latest month tracked, according to a March research note by Stifel analyst James Albertine. Tesla’s still a startup, under the microscope for production quality and for how any recalls could potentially impact its necessarily large production ramp-up plans. Model 3 Launch Tesla’s first week of fully refundable $1,000 Model 3 reservations topped 325,000 , the company said early Thursday, saying that it would be “increasing Model 3 production plans.” Tesla noted that if all those reservations result in a sale, the batch would be worth $14 billion in revenue. Deliveries are scheduled to start in late 2017. In a research note April 1, Albertine said that his $325 long-term target price on Tesla stock “is predicated on a model assuming 200,000 units produced annually in 2020, which is substantially lower than TSLA’s guidance for 500,000 units annually. The initial Model 3 reservations reduce our concerns with respect to achieving management’s guidance at some point in the next 5-7 years, but given the complexity associated with vehicle manufacturing and the fact that TSLA has little incentive (besides investor appetite for delivery growth and GAAP profitability) to accelerate production at the expense of quality, protecting against the risk of a major recall.” How Soon Can Tesla Build 325,000 Model 3 Cars?

Facebook Stock Breaches 50-Day Support Amid Usage Fears, F8 Show

Loading the player… Facebook ( FB ) fell in quick turnover for a second session in a row amid concerns that users are not sharing as many personal posts. The Information reported last week that Facebook saw a 21% drop in original posts from mid-2014 to mid-2015, and that it is working to correct that decline. Meanwhile, privately held social media competitor Snapchat is all about personal shares. Facebook-owned Instagram is also a hub for personal posts. The social media giant has indicated that it’s just the type of sharing that has changed on its main platform, not the level of sharing. Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference begins tomorrow, where chatbots are expected to be a hot topic. That could open a new revenue stream for businesses looking to interact with their customers on a social platform. But tech giants still have a lot to learn when it comes to chatbots. Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) experiment with teen chatbot Tay quickly went south. Facebook shares dropped 1.5%, breaching support at the 50-day line. A drop below the 50-day moving average in heavy volume is an especially bearish sign, but this move was in slightly above average trade. Shares are trading 7% below a cup-with-handle base buy point of 117.09. Microsoft is trading 4% below its late-December high and a consolidation buy point at 56.95, which is 10 cents above the high. The stock fell 0.2% Monday. Facebook last week rolled out its Live platform globally, with expanded features — edging into Twitter ’s ( TWTR ) realm, which includes its Periscope live streaming platform. Twitter is still searching for positive catalysts to revive its shares. Last week, it signed a pact with the NFL to live stream 10 Thursday Night Football games. Twitter is in an extended downtrend, trading 68% below its 52-week high. The stock dipped 0.8% Monday. Among other widely held tech stocks, Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ) is working on a cup-with-handle base with a 777.41 buy point. It’s trading 3% below that level, falling 0.3% Monday. And Apple ( AAPL ) tried to retake the 110 price level, but pared its gains to close up 0.3%. Apple is nearing its downward sloping 200-day line, but its recent attempts to retake that level have failed. Apple stock is 18% below its late-April peak. Image provided by Shutterstock .

VC Fundraising Hits 10-Year High Despite Startup Doubts

Venture capital firms raised $12 billion in the first quarter — the largest amount in 10 years and double the amount raised in the previous two quarters combined — despite growing doubts about startup valuations. The amount raised is a promising sign for entrepreneurs and startups that rely on venture capital funding to launch their companies and expand. The $12 billion was up 59% year over year and more than double that of the previous quarter, said the National Venture Capital Association, which reported numbers tallied by Thomson Reuters. It was the most raised in a quarter since $14.3 billion in Q2 2006. “While it’s unlikely for this strong pace to continue, we do expect this to be a solid fundraising year when all is said and done,” said Bobby Franklin, CEO of the National Venture Capital Association, in a statement. Investors in venture capital funds include pension funds, endowments, insurers, banks, corporations and rich individuals hoping to get above-average returns on their investments. Venture capital firms receive annual management fees as they invest in startups. The funded portfolios are typically active for about 7 to 10 years until profit is distributed to the portfolio investors. Venture capital firms also keep a percentage of the gains. The funding provided to venture capital firms comes even as the value of some highly valued startups has declined and as the market for initial public offerings has cooled. But the overall rate of return from VC portfolios is better than what it might seem. The 10-year return by venture funds for the period ended Sept. 30 was 11% versus 6.8% for the S&P 500 index and 7.9% for the Nasdaq composite, according to Cambridge Associates, a provider of investment advice and research. The largest recipient of funds in Q1 was Founders Fund VI portfolio, which raised $1.3 billion. The Founders Fund venture capital firm was launched by Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal ( PYPL ) and an early investor in Facebook ( FB ). Founders Fund is an investor in SpaceX, which has a multi-billion dollar contract to resupply the International Space Station. SpaceX also has numerous contracts for the launching of satellites. Founders Fund is also an investor in accommodations listing provider Airbnb and music streaming service provider Spotify. The second- and third-largest funding amounts, both receiving $1.2 billion, went to Norwest Venture Partners XIII and Accel Growth Fund IV.