Tesla

In January 2020, Tesla, Inc. ( TSLA ) was valued at $117 billion by the stock market. By the end of the year, that figure had skyrocketed to $658.39 billion. Subsequently, Tesla's stock traversed the distance to a $1 trillion market cap in less than a year, reaching that milestone on Oct. 25, 2021. The stratospheric rise in Tesla's shares within a short span of time has confounded investors. It also raises an important question: can the factors that propelled Tesla to a trillion-dollar valuation during the pandemic help sustain its momentum afterwards? Key Takeaways The increase in Tesla's stock price and market cap has created a financial complex of investment products that include or track the electric car maker's stock. Average trading volume in Tesla options exceeds that in S&P 500 options. The financial complex has helped Tesla finance the next round of its evolution as a major car manufacturer. The Tesla Financial Complex While retail investors … [Read more...] about Why Tesla (TSLA) Skyrocketed During the Pandemic

Tesla owners, beware. And business owners, listen up. A person who describes himself as a "white hat hacker" recently purchased four Tesla car computers off eBay. Upon accessing the computers, called media control units (MCU), the person was able to obtain personally identifiable information about a vehicle's owner, including their "home and work location, all saved Wi-Fi passwords, calendar entries from the phone, call lists and address books from paired phones, Netflix and other stored session cookies," according to InsideEV . According to the hacker, who revealed the information to improve Tesla security, the personal information was unencrypted and readily accessible. Netflix and other information was accessible because MCUs are where Teslas store data from third-party applications, like Netflix and Spotify, that are synced to the vehicle. The finding highlights a potentially troubling problem for Tesla owners. It would appear that a Tesla's onboard computer … [Read more...] about Tesla Car Computers Sold on eBay, Owner Data and All

There's probably no other topic garnering more attention right now than inflation. In categories ranging from used cars to housing and gas to food, soaring prices are everywhere. And these increases are hurting many consumers, particularly those at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. There's no doubt that the unexpected surge in consumer demand following the pandemic, at a time when supply chains were not functioning at full capacity, probably is the main culprit of the current situation. Investors are likely wondering what the best course of action is in order to benefit from this trend. If you're worried about the threat of inflation , there's a worthwhile asset to allocate a small percentage of your portfolio to: Bitcoin ( CRYPTO:BTC ) . Image source: Getty Images. Why is inflation necessary? It's worth taking a step back to understand why inflation exists. The constant devaluing of currency is a policy tool used to encourage … [Read more...] about Where to Invest in 2022 If You’re Worried About Inflation

Chip giant Intel ( NASDAQ:INTC ) paid $15.3 billion for autonomous driving company Mobileye in 2017. Intel saw a huge opportunity at the time, saying that the market for vehicle systems, data, and services could grow to $70 billion by 2030. Nothing has likely changed about that opportunity as the automotive industry marches toward an electric and autonomous future. Mobileye has shipped over 100 million of its EyeQ chips, which support an array of advanced driver assistance functions. Future versions of EyeQ are expected to support semi- and fully autonomous driving. What has changed is the premium investors are willing to hand out to any company working on electric cars or autonomous vehicle technology. Tesla is a $1 trillion company, worth more than all the other major automakers combined; graphics chip company Nvidia , which offers a platform that rivals Mobileye, has seen its stock soar over the past few years; and EV upstart Rivian is worth nearly $100 billion … [Read more...] about A Mobileye IPO Could Help Intel’s Stumbling Stock

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Luminar stock , a company that develops lidar sensors for use in self-driving cars, has declined by roughly 15% over the last week (five trading days), underperforming the S&P 500 which was down by about 4%. The stock also remains down by about 17% over the last month. There are likely a couple of factors driving the recent sell-off. Firstly, Luminar issued about $550 million worth of convertible debt last month, while buying back around $250 million of its stock. It’s possible that investors are a bit concerned about these transactions given that the company hasn’t started meaningful commercial operations yet, with profitability and positive cash flows likely several years away. Separately, electric vehicle stocks, in general, have underperformed the market in recent weeks, due to rising bond yields and this could also be hurting Luminar. For perspective, EV bellwether Tesla stock is down by about 17% year-to-date in 2022. … [Read more...] about Why Luminar Stock May See Lower Levels Going Forward

- A + A (Jan 21): Wall Street's main indexes fell on Friday, with the Nasdaq set for its fourth straight day of declines after a weak forecast from Netflix sent its shares along with other streaming companies spiraling lower. Netflix Inc plunged 21.6% after missing market forecast for new subscribers at the end of last year and a downbeat outlook for early 2022. Other technology and media companies including Walt Disney Co, ViacomCBS and Roku that have invested heavily in streaming also fell between 4.7% and 5.0%. Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors fell, with communication services down 2.1% at an eight-month low. Analysts on Thursday raised doubts about business prospects of pandemic market favorites including Netflix and Peloton Interactive. However, shares of Peloton bounced from the previous day's fall, jumping 11.5% after its chief executive denied a report that the exercise bike maker was halting some production and raised second-quarter revenue … [Read more...] about Nasdaq extends fall to fourth day on Netflix letdown

Indian Railways. Representative image. Expanding Vande Bharat train sets, innovating new wagons, including one specifically targeted at carrying lightweight cargo from small businesses and promotion of new technologies like Hypeloop are among the expectations of Indian Railways from the budget for the next financial year, said two government officials aware of the matter. There may be a broad statement around the transporter’s plans to reduce its carbon footprint on the roadmap to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions, said a third official with knowledge of the matter. The final form of the Railways-related announcements in the upcoming budget is still taking shape, he added. One of the officials quoted above said on condition of anonymity that although passenger revenue has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in capital expenditure is expected so that Railways could serve both passengers and freight customers better. He declined to comment on the size of … [Read more...] about Budget 2022: What’s in store for Indian Railways?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin News yesterday that Peloton will halt production of its bikes and treadmills because of falling demand signaled the latest crisis for the fitness equipment maker. According to CNBC , “the company said in a confidential presentation dated Jan. 10 that demand for its connected fitness equipment has faced a ‘significant reduction’ around the world due to shoppers’ price sensitivity and amplified competitor activity.” The Crisis Management Hall Of Fame is filled with companies and organizations that have faced and come back from one crisis after another. It remains to be seen whether Peloton will be one of them. Last May, Peloton announced a delayed recall of its treadmills. In December , the company immediately went into damage control when a major character on HBO’s Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That... , suffered a a heart attack riding a Peloton exercise bike. Also in December, the New York Times … [Read more...] about Peloton Faces Challenges Before It Can Recover From Their Latest Crisis

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke recently made headlines for berating the idea that “companies are families” in a leaked internal email. “Preposterous” was the word he used, before going on to declare Shopify a “team,” not a family. A lot of people agree with this line of thinking, popularized by Netflix ’s Culture Slide deck. In fact, I was another CEO who used to preach to my colleagues, “We’re a team, not a family.” But I changed my mind recently. Because the truth is, culture isn't binary. The Competing Values Framework The Competing Values Framework divides organizational cultures into four categories based on the following factors: whether an organization is more internally focused or externally focused, and the degree to which it values flexibility and individual discretion or stability and control. Companies that value flexibility and are externally focused are said to have “adhocracy” cultures. These … [Read more...] about What The ‘Team Vs. Family’ Debate Gets Wrong About Company Culture