The 2024 Honda Prologue: Honda’s new electric SUV is attractive and spacious. When can you get one?

It has exceptional passenger roominess and looks dirt-road ready.

The 2024 Honda Prologue is an all-electric, 2-row midsize SUV and the automaker’s first electric SUV of any sort. It will compete with the growing group of electric SUVs priced between $40,000 and $50,000, and likely offer a max range of beyond 300 miles when it goes on sale in 2024.

How much will the Honda Prologue cost?

We expect the Honda HMC, 2.42% Prologue electric vehicle to start in the mid-$40,000 range. For reference, the Ford F, -1.28% Mustang Mach-E currently starts at $46,895, and the Hyundai HYMTF, +2.40% Ioniq 5 kicks off at $39,950.

When does the Honda Prologue go on sale?

The Honda Prologue debuted in October 2022, and Honda says it will go on sale in 2024. Because it’s also a 2024 model, we expect it will start hitting dealerships early that year.

How big is the Honda Prologue?

The 2-row, 5-passenger Prologue is notably longer and a bit taller than presumed competitors like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E. It’s also longer than Honda’s own Passport midsize SUV, but not as tall. A long wheelbase of almost 122 inches promises exceptional passenger roominess.

Wheelbase: 121.8 inches
Length: 192.0 inches
Width: 78.3 inches
Height: 64.7 inches
Wheel diameter: 21 inches
Attractive exterior

Honda played it pretty safe with the Prologue’s exterior design, but we definitely like the look. It’s clean, substantial, and has a few premium-like elements, angles, and features. It also looks ready and willing to venture down some dirt roads, not just capable of doing so.

In back, the Honda badge has been replaced with “Honda” spelled out. But instead of using all capital letters, as it’s typically done, Honda’s execution features a capital H followed by lower-case letters. So Honda.

Sleek interior

The Prologue’s passenger cabin combines familiar Honda interior design sensibilities with two large screens and what looks to be an accommodating center console. It looks more like a contemporary Honda than a futuristic EV, which we suspect many buyers will appreciate.

Range and charge times

While Honda has yet to release any Prologue range, charging, or battery details, we can look to the forthcoming Chevy Blazer EV for clues. Why the Blazer EV? Because the Prologue is the product of a partnership with GM GM, -0.65% and is built on its new electric vehicle platform. We expect the Prologue to be sized and priced similarly to the Blazer EV, which offers about 250 miles of range on the low end, and up to 320 miles at the top end of the lineup.

As for charging, the Prologue’s platform-mate has an 11.5 kW onboard AC charger for plugging in at home, and DC public fast-charging capability of up to 190 kW. Depending on the model and the charger, the lithium-ion battery can absorb 87 miles worth of electricity in just 10 minutes. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Prologue post similar figures all around.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

4 Technologies That Aren’t That Big Today but Will Likely Be Massive in 20 Years

The concept of smartphones and electric cars seemed like a pipe dream 20 years ago, but today, nearly 6.92 billion people, or 86.4% of the global population, have personal smartphones. Governments worldwide are moving toward a green future by encouraging the use of electric cars instead of vehicles with combustible engines.

Investing in burgeoning technologies could increase your wealth within the next two decades. Take look at some of the most promising technologies poised to catch on.

Generative Artificial Intelligence

In recent months, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken a much larger role in daily life than normal. ChatGPT is rewriting curriculums and being used at publications like Buzzfeed Inc. But that’s just the beginning. While ChatGPT has been growing in prominence, other aspects of the field have been under-reported.

For example, RAD AI is a startup using generative AI to increase the efficiency of marketing campaigns with the world’s first AI marketing platform built to understand emotion. The startup is raising on startup investing platform Wefunder and has raised over $2.5 million from everyday investors.

Other types of generative AI examples include programs used to generate images, paintings, drawings, text-to-speech and full videos using nothing but AI.

Commercial Space Exploration

2021 was a pivotal year for commercial space exploration, with startups such as Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin LLC and Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) successfully kickstarting commercial space travel. Virgin Galactic, backed by billionaire Richard Branson, also launched the first fully crewed flight to the edge of space in July 2021.

These startups are gearing up to begin commercial space travel by 2024. But given recession concerns and supply chain issues, no concrete plans have been made. Many companies delayed their schedules by at least a year as the macroeconomic headwinds piled on.

With tickets priced at nearly $500,000 each, commercial space travel is currently only accessible to high-net-worth individuals. But you can expect prices to drop over the next two decades, as companies invest heavily to develop sustainable space stations and other infrastructure. China Business Knowledge predicts space travel to become more affordable over the next 15 to 20 years, stating, “Many people alive today will have a real chance of traveling to space in their lifetimes.”

Green Hydrogen

The majority of policies developed by nations over the past two years has been focused on transitioning to carbon-neutral energy. While the energy crisis resulting from the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war has thrown off the timeline, several countries have pledged to phase out fossil fuel emissions to eliminate their carbon footprints by 2050.

Solar, wind and geothermal energy are at the forefront of this transition, and the popularity of hydrogen as an alternative source is peaking. Green hydrogen has immense applications across the agriculture, manufacturing and transportation industries. Boston-based startup Electric Hydrogen, which produces green hydrogen from water, raised $198 million in Series B funding last June.

While green hydrogen production is expensive, scientists worldwide are working toward developing ways to produce carbon-neutral hydrogen commercially. Norwegian fuel cell company Nel ASA, the world’s largest manufacturer of electrolyzers, expects green hydrogen production costs to become equivalent or lower than fossil fuel production by 2025 at the earliest.

Private Equity Secondary Market

The private equity market is dominated by venture capitalists and angel investors. This has been a point of contention for retail investors for some time. It triggered the meme stock rally in the last two years as retail traders used social media to create immense selling pressure on institutional investors.

But with the rising popularity of startup investments among everyday investors, companies are working on establishing a solid secondary market for reselling private equity assets. Startups typically remain private for 10 to 12 years before becoming mature enough to go public while seed money invested remains locked in. But with the development of a secondary trading market, institutional and retail investors do not have to wait for an initial public offering (IPO) to cash in their investments.

StartEngine, the largest equity crowdfunding startup in the U.S., is working toward developing an inclusive secondary market for trading such securities. As the private equity market rapidly evolves, secondary trading markets facilitating reselling of such asset classes are expected to be one of the biggest advances in the retail investing space.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

New YouTube CEO Is Bullish on Web3 Tech Like NFTs and the Metaverse

After serving as YouTube’s Chief Product Officer for over seven years, Neal Mohan was appointed last week to lead the Google-owned streaming platform after former CEO Susan Wojcicki said she’d be stepping down.

His ascendance bodes well for fans and advocates of Web3 technologies.

Wojcicki announced her resignation in a blog post. In praising Youtube’s “incredible leadership team,” she commended Mohan for playing a pivotal role in the launch of products like YouTube TV and YouTube Music, stating he’ll be a “terrific leader.”

Wojcicki also praised Mohan for his robust understanding of YouTube as both a business and one of the most popular places for communities to congregate. “He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees,” Wojcicki wrote.

As one of the most popular websites in the world, the popularity and reach of YouTube cannot be understated. From September to November last year, the website ranked only behind Google in terms of use, with 74.8 billion visits on average per month, according to Statista.

During his long tenure shaping YouTube’s offerings, Mohan has kept an open mind about the evolution of the internet and its assorted platforms. Last year, he disclosed in a blog post that YouTube was looking at ways it could possibly integrate Web3 technology, whether by “making YouTube more immersive” by leveraging the metaverse or tapping technology like NFTs, unique digital tokens that are often used to assert ownership of online content.

“We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans,” Mohan wrote. “There’s a lot to consider in making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly, but we think there’s incredible potential as well.”

For example, Mohan wrote that NFTs could be a compelling, “verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators,” adding it would allow creators and audiences to collaborate in new ways.

In terms of the metaverse, Mohan stated the technology’s use is “still in its early days” but said YouTube will “work to bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive.”

YouTube CEO Hints at NFT Integration in Letter to Creators

Even though the concept of a metaverse isn’t explicitly built around blockchain technology—the term was coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel “Snow Crash”—popular projects like The Sandbox and Decentraland use blockchain technology to establish the ownership of digital land and other assets.

Google itself has also leaned more heavily into Web3 services within the past year. In October, the company announced the launch of a cloud-based service for Ethereum projects and developers called the Blockchain Node Engine.

The service both hosts and automatically manages individual nodes that contribute to a blockchain’s network, bringing the “reliability, performance, and security [people] expect from Google Cloud compute” to the digital assets industry.

The tech giant revealed the following month that it would expand its Blockchain Node Engine to the Solana Blockchain as well, a feature set to launch in the first quarter of this year.

YouTube Is Eyeing the ‘Incredible Potential’ of NFTs and Web3 for Future Products

Google also gave a nod to Ethereum last September as the network transitioned to a less energy-intensive form of verifying transitions, a long-awaited process referred to as the merge. A “doodle” featured in Goolge’s search engine counted down how long it would take for the process to be complete and other stats related to Ethereum’s change in power consumption.

YouTube has seen some prominent employees fully embrace Web3, such as its former Global Head of Gaming Ryan Wyatt, who left after seven years at YouTube to join Polygon Studios as CEO in February 2022 and has since shifted to serve as President at the rebranded Polygon Labs.

Watt recently told Decrypt that he sees parallels between YouTube and Polygon, a sidechain that runs in tandem with Ethereum and seeks to improve on its counterpart by offering faster transactions and lower fees while serving as a platform for interoperable blockchains.

“There’s a lot of similarities between YouTube and Polygon in the sense [that] it’s a platform, and you’re helping people onboard onto it,” he said. “It’s creators in all types, uploading gaming videos, all the way to now, [where it’s] games and projects being built.”

Source: finance.yahoo.com

These Are The 5 Best EV Stocks To Buy And Watch Now

EV stocks have multiplied in Tesla’s (TSLA) wake and as electric cars look to go mainstream — but not all are created equal. Some car stocks are more ready than others for an electric future. Here are the top-rated EV makers and EV-related plays.

Best EV Stocks To Buy Or Watch

The charts of most EV stocks remain under strain. Broadly, both established automakers and startups are a speculative bet on the growth of electric vehicles, itself seen as a nascent field. Growth stocks led the bear market in 2022 due to rising inflation and interest rates.

It’s hard to find an EV stock with a good mix of fundamentals and technicals right now. Not including Tesla, these are our picks based on EV sales, strategy and growth plans.

BYDDF Stock

BYD (BYDDF) earns an EPS Rating of 83 and RS Rating of 75, both out of a best-possible 99. The 75 RS Rating means that BYDDF stock has outperformed 75% of all stocks in IBD’s database over the past year. Shares trade over the counter in the U.S.

BYD stock is working on a long, deep cup base with a buy point of 43.71. Shares appear to be working on a handle above the 200-day line that might be fractionally too low to be a proper handle.

In early 2022, China auto giant BYD (for Build Your Dreams) switched to producing only all-electric vehicles (also known as battery electric vehicles, or BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

BYD sold more than 1.85 million electric cars in 2022, including hybrids. In 2022, as well as in 2021, BYD more than tripled EV sales.

Most of BYD’s sales are still on home turf. However, it has a big international expansion underway, including the U.S., Europe and markets in Asia beyond China.

The company supplies batteries, including to Tesla, and makes its own chips. That has underpinned BYD’s rapid expansion in 2021 and 2022.

Including PHEVs, BYD has surged past Tesla sales. BYD is closing the gap with Tesla on BEVs as well. In the minus column, investing legend Warren Buffett continues to cut his stake in BYDDF shares.

GM Stock

General Motors (GM) has a Composite Rating of 84, EPS Rating of 83 and RS Rating of 71. GM stock is well above the 21-day moving average, as well as longer-term averages, after better-than-expected earnings and strong outlook.

GM stock cleared a 41.68 buy point Feb. 13. It’s within the 5% chase zone, which goes to 43.76.

Along with earnings Jan. 31, GM CEO Mary Barra announced a $650 million investment in Vancouver, British Columbia-based Lithium Americas (LAC). Lithium is a key EV battery material.

Traditional automakers continue ramping up on electric vehicles (EVs), away from gas and diesel cars. Through 2025, General Motors is spending $35 billion to develop electric and autonomous vehicles. It aims to launch 30 new EVs around the world by then. By 2030, GM expects as much as half its global sales to be battery-powered cars.

In the minus column, GM has struggled to ramp up production of luxury new EVs, including the Hummer truck and Lyriq SUV, though its older-generation Chevy Bolt EV model is selling well.

Three all-new EV models are due in 2023 from GM’s mass-market Chevrolet brand. Those new EVs include all-electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox. The Chevy Silverado pickup is GM’s top-selling model. The Blazer and Equinox are popular SUVs.

SQM Stock

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM), also known as SQM, carries a 93 Composite Rating, 96 EPS Rating and 77 RS Rating.

SQM stock has a double-bottom base with a 112.45 buy point, but is carving a handle that could lower the official entry to 98.76.

Chile’s SQM is riding the global adoption of electric vehicles, which use lithium batteries. Demand for lithium, a critical EV battery material, has been outpacing supplies. That has sent lithium prices soaring.

SQM also produces iodine and potassium, used in X-rays and fertilizers respectively.

ON Stock

Onsemi (ON) carries a Composite Rating of 95, EPS Rating of 93 and RS Rating of 94. On Feb. 1, ON stock broke out of a cup base with a buy point of 77.38.

Shares have kept rising and are now extended, meaning they are not within the proper 5% buy range.

The chipmaker beat estimates for the fourth quarter Feb. 6, but fell on weak guidance. ON stock remains above the buy point.

The secular megatrends of electric vehicles, advanced driver-assistance systems, alternative energy and industrial automation drove Onsemi’s revenue growth, CEO Hassane El-Khoury said in a news release.

Earlier in January, Onsemi entered into a strategic partnership with Volkswagen (VWAGY) to supply inverters for use in a next-generation VW electric platform.

Onsemi also provides technology for fast charging electric vehicles.

AEHR Stock

Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) carries a Composite Rating of 99, EPS Rating of 78 and RS Rating of 99, all out of a best-possible 99.

AEHR stock has had big swings in the past several months, usually up.

Semiconductor equipment maker Aehr offers products for testing logic, optical and memory integrated circuits, as quality and reliability needs increase. The Fremont, Calif.-based company has been growing revenue by double and triple digits.

It touts strong demand for gear to test silicon carbide power chips used in electric vehicles.

The demand for silicon carbide (SiC) EV chips is seen increasing exponentially in the decade ahead.

In addition to EVs, silicon carbide chips have bright prospects in industrial, solar, wind, and EV charging infrastructure markets.

Are EV Stocks A Good Buy?

Companies with two characteristics generally make the best candidates for stocks to buy and watch, according to CAN SLIM guidelines. First, they need a strong track record of earnings growth. Second, they should be technically strong and be shaping bullish chart patterns.

Most of the new EV startups have neither. Those EV stocks include Fisker (FSR), Canoo (GOEV), Faraday Future (FFIE), Lordstown (RIDE) and Xos (XOS). In fact, many of the startups aren’t producing electric vehicles yet.

However, Lucid Motors (LCID) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN) have begun selling EVs.

Meanwhile, Chinese EV startups like Nio (NIO), XPeng (XPEV) and Li Auto (LI) sell tens of thousands of vehicles, but aren’t yet or aren’t consistently profitable.

Then there are legacy auto giants like General Motors (GM), Ford (F), Volkswagen (VWAGY) and China’s BYD Co. (BYDDF), all transforming into EV powerhouses.

EV Battery Stocks, EV Charging Stocks

The growing universe of EV stocks doesn’t end with carmakers. A constellation of other companies provide car batteries, car charging stations, electric motors and other EV-related products. Among them are ChargePoint (CHPT), EVgo (EVGO), Blink Charging (BLNK) and Wallbox (WBX).

Hyliion (HYLN) is developing electric powertrains for big-rig trucks. Romeo Power (RMO) makes battery packs for commercial EV fleets. QuantumScape (QS) targets solid-state lithium metal batteries.

Magna (MGA) supplies battery enclosures and e-drive gearboxes. It’s also an EV contract manufacturer.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Sports betting boom: Gross revenue hit $7.5 billion in 2022, shattering record

Sports betting broke records in 2022, according to new data released by the American Gaming Association (AGA).

According to the AGA findings, sports betting gross game revenue hit a record $7.5 billion last year, a nearly 75% increase from 2021, while total gross gaming revenue (GGR), which accounts for all legal gambling, exceeded $60 billion for the first time ever.

“Our industry significantly outpaced expectations in 2022,” AGA President and CEO Bill Miller said. “Simply put, American adults are choosing casino gaming for entertainment in record numbers, benefiting communities and taking market share from the predatory, illegal marketplace.”

Increased legalization, including the addition of four new mobile gambling states and the maturation of previously legal markets, drove the higher revenue numbers, according to the AGA.

Currently, sports gambling is legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia while eight states have active legislation to legalize it. Texas is among those states and would become the largest destination for legal sports betting if its bill passes.

That momentum hasn’t entirely gained steam across the U.S., though: In 2022, California, one of the sports gambling industry’s most sought-after markets, failed to pass legislation to legalize sports gambling.

“Legalization has definitely slowed down,” topld Christopher Lynch, Citizens Capital Markets head of gaming leisure investment banking. “That’s just a function of how many states have legalized. We’re at about 35 states that have legalized in some form or fashion. I think that’s gonna continue to remain a focus, with Texas being the biggest focus.”

While sports betting led the largest yearly increase in GGR, which is the amount casinos earn prior to paying state taxes, other sectors of the gaming industry also significantly increased in 2022, according to the report.

Slot revenue ($34.19 billion) increased marginally, while table game revenue ($10 billion) and iGaming revenue ($5.02 billion) both experienced double-digit growth from 2021.

Over the past year, Wall Street has been focused not just on the eye-popping revenue numbers in the gambling space but also on how much operators are spending to acquire their boosted revenue.

Marketing spend in sports gambling has hampered many casino operators from posting profitable quarters in their online gambling units amid a broader trend of risk-off trades in markets.

Online gambling operator DraftKings (DKNG), which reported an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $326.29 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022 on Thursday after the market close.

Wall Street is expecting DraftKings to report a loss of $112.42 million.

“The outlook’s all about: Are they able to go and be able to prove to the Street that they can actually generate and grow this business profitably?” told Jed Kelly, Oppenheimer managing director of equity research for consumer internet. “They’ve got a pretty good outlook for state launches this year, so that should allow them to leverage their advertising spend better.”

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Apple’s long-rumored folding iPhone could become a reality

There may still be life for Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone. On Monday The U.S. Patent Office published that it awarded the tech giant a patent for a display with touch sensors. Apple (AAPL) specifically refers to a foldable electronic device in the patent’s abstract.

UBS analyst David Vogt says that while there’s no indication that we’ll see a foldable iPhone this year, the introduction of such a product in the future could help boost iPhone sales around the world.

“We believe that a foldable iPhone model could lead to an uptick in consumer purchasing and upgrade rate within the smartphone segment,” Vogt wrote in a note to investors. “If a foldable device compresses the upgrade rate for iPhones or attracts ‘switchers’ from the Android ecosystem, iPhone unit growth could come in above our 238 million estimate in [fiscal 2024] given an installed base of roughly 1.2 billion iPhones and roughly 1.3 billion smartphones shipped a year.”

Rumors of a foldable iPhone have been circling for years. In April 2022, FT International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the folding smartphone would hit stores in 2025, potentially as a foldable iPhone/ iPad hybrid.

In 2021, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is known for accurately reporting Apple products before the company announces them, said it would be two to three years before the company launches a foldable device.

Apple rival Samsung already has two foldable smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which has a vertical crease down the center of the display that makes it fold like a book, and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which features a horizontal crease that allows it to fold like a makeup compact. Both phones, however, are marketed as premium devices, with the Z Flip 4 starting at $999, and the Z Fold 4 starting at $1,799.

Introducing foldable smartphones, however, could help goose Apple’s iPhone sales at a time when global phone sales are coming off of pandemic highs. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone shipments fell 11.2% in 2022. Apple, alone, saw a 14.9% decline in Q4.

Apple’s iPhone revenue in Q1, which includes sales during the holiday, meanwhile, missed analysts’ expectations, coming in at $65.7 billion versus the $68.3 billion Wall Street was anticipating.

Still, the smartphone maker, like other tech giants, regularly files for and receives patents for technologies that never reach consumers. In other words, a folding iPhone could just be something the company is taking seriously enough to patent, but not necessarily make. And while iPhone sales did decline in Q1, much of that was seemingly tied to manufacturing issues caused by COVID lockdowns and worker protests in China.

What’s more, as Vogt points out, in a survey of 7,000 smartphone users in the U.S., U.K., and China, UBS found that a folding phone was the least important feature customers were looking for in a new handset.

Despite that, Apple could still launch a foldable phone in the coming years as the technology becomes more affordable for consumers. Or maybe the company will just end up abandoning our phones for the metaverse. Who knows?

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Inflation in January was both hot and cold: Morning Brief

Consumer prices rose both faster and slower in January.

All that matters is where you draw the line.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January showed prices rose 0.5% over the prior month to start 2023 and 6.4% over last year on a headline basis.

The monthly increase in headline CPI showed the fastest increase in consumer prices since Oct. 2022; the annual increase marked the slowest increase in prices since Oct. 2021.

On a “core” basis — which strips out food and energy — prices rose 0.4% over last month and 5.6% over last year. This monthly increase marked the fastest rise in core prices since Sept. 2022; the annual increase was the slowest pace of increases since Dec. 2021.

In a word, January’s inflation data was good. In two words, not good.

Of course, the reason investors care so much about inflation is because of what this report may or may not mean for the Federal Reserve.

In the case of Tuesday’s data, this report suggests another 0.25% increase in the Fed’s benchmark interest rate is a near certainty next month. And the likelihood of further action in May just went up, too.

“In our view, inflation is still set to grind lower, but the process is likely to be bumpy and take time,” wrote Wells Fargo economists Sarah House and Michael Pugliese.

“Despite some directional improvement over the past couple of quarters, prices are still growing well-above the Fed’s 2% target, and the tight labor market suggests that there are still inflationary pressures that could forestall a full return to 2% inflation. We continue to look for the FOMC to raise the fed funds rate by another 25 bps at both the March and May meetings and to hold the target range at 5.00%-5.25% through the year’s end to ensure that high inflation will be quelled for good.”

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote Tuesday, “this report won’t change anyone’s mind about the inflation picture; both hawks and doves will find something to highlight.”

For the hawks, continued firming in rent prices was the star on Tuesday.

“Housing accounted for roughly half of the total increase in the CPI, which won’t sit well with the Fed,” Ryan Sweet, Chief US Economist. “Rental prices were up 0.7% in January. Though market rents have rolled over, it takes roughly a year for that to feed into the CPI.”

For the doves, the balance of services inflation that excludes rent — or about 60% of that basket — rose at an annualized rate of 1.5% in January, per data from Bespoke Investment Group.

In other words, excluding housing, “core” inflation is running below the Fed’s target.

So while every piece of economic data is available for the kinds of fine-toothed examinations that render firm conclusions elusive, January’s CPI report stands as uniquely — and perhaps divisively — open for for interpretation.

“In our view, there is not a lot of new information in this report,” wrote Michael Gapen, an economist at Bank of America Global Research.

And for markets eager to re-write the status quo with each new piece of data that crosses the wire, there is perhaps no greater challenge than seeing more of the same.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Toyota Makes a Big Change on EVs

The Japanese automotive giant will launch Lexus in pursuit of Tesla.

It’s a major u-turn but not a pivot.

This is the complex and contradictory message that the future CEO of Toyota TM has just sent.

Koji Sato, 53, who will take the helm at the automotive giant on April 1, on Feb. 13 spoke for the first time since his promotion last month.

Sato’s position on electric vehicles is particularly eagerly awaited. Toyota has pursued a strategy that runs against the tide of other car manufacturers — legacy companies as well as upstarts — which are mostly betting on battery-powered vehicles.

Under Akio Toyoda, the outgoing CEO and grandson of the founder, Toyota has been reluctant to embrace EVs. The maker of the Camry sedan has taken the opposite bet in the industry by developing hybrid vehicles, like its bestselling Prius model.

It has also pushed for hydrogen-fuel-cell cars.

Lexus Carries Toyota’s EV Ambitions

The company’s argument has often been that there isn’t enough supporting infrastructure — not enough charging stations — to support widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Toyota had also justified its approach by noting the high costs and complex investments inherent in the segment, while doubting the potential of EVs within the mass automobile market.

Sato wants to break with this approach. He wants to accelerate the group’s development in the electrical segment. According to him, Toyota has had a “communication problem” about its EV strategy so far, something he wants to correct and change.

“We want to listen to customers around the world and offer them various options,” but “in this multidirectional approach, 100% electric electric vehicles are also an important option”, Sato said during a news conference in Tokyo.

The new boss was introducing his team.

“I think around half of it is a communication issue. We can do better,” the future leader said when asked about the reasons for Toyota’s “slowness” in the field of EVs. “While making efforts to save energy (via hybrid vehicles), in the medium or long term, we will encourage a switch to electric vehicles.”

This big change in strategy will rely on Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand, of which Sato was the boss before being promoted to CEO of the entire group. The next generation of Lexus electric cars will be developed by 2026, “optimizing everything from the battery to the platform to how a car is produced, while expanding our current lineup,” explained the future CEO.

He promised to detail his EV strategy, including information on the group’s future electric platform, after taking office in April.

As Lexus’s current leader, Sato oversaw the development of the first electric Lexus, the RZ, which is set to launch this year.

Isn’t It a Bit Too Late?

Sato, however, did not want to completely turn the page on his predecessor. He said that the acceleration in the electric segment with Lexus was not a big change of strategy and that Toyota would continue to invest in different less-polluting technologies.

“This is not a fast pivot towards battery EVs,” the incoming CEO cautioned.

Toyota is keeping unchanged its goal of selling 3.5 million EVs by 2030, Sato said.

The road to achieving this will be long. Last year, the automotive group’s sales in this segment (including hydrogen-powered vehicles) represented just over 28,000 units for its Toyota and Lexus brands.

Toyota’s reluctance to get into electric vehicles has allowed disrupters like Tesla to take advantage of the vacuum and establish their dominance.

Ironically, the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., the biggest within Elon Musk’s group, was once jointly owned by Toyota and GM. But Toyota sold it to Tesla for just $42 million in a partnership that ended in 2014.

Tesla sold more than 1.31 million vehicles last year and produced 1.37 million.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Is Apple Stock A Buy After December-Quarter Earnings Miss?

Consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) has seen its sales lowered by supply constraints and weakening macroeconomic conditions, which have rocked Apple stock. Still, many investors might be wondering if AAPL stock is a buy right now.

Apple Stock News: iPhone 14 Sales

On Sept. 7, Apple introduced its third-generation 5G smartphones, the iPhone 14 series. It also debuted its Apple Watch Series 8 smartwatches and second-generation AirPods Pro wireless earbuds. Apple stock rose 0.9% on the news.

Analysts praised the innovative new devices but some worried that the premium products would be a tough sell in the current economic climate.

However, demand for the high-end iPhone 14 Pro models has been strong, while sales of the regular models have disappointed.

On Nov. 6, Apple warned that a Covid outbreak at a factory in China would limit the availability of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max handsets in the holiday season. The Foxconn-owned factory was “operating at significantly reduced capacity” because of Covid restrictions, Apple said. The factory later saw worker protests that turned violent, according to news reports.

On Feb. 2, Apple said the production disruptions significantly impacted its iPhone sales in the December quarter.

Apple Opportunities For Growth

With the iPhone business maturing, investors are wondering what the next big growth driver will be for Apple stock.

Recently, two businesses have given Apple’s sales and profits a boost: services and wearables.

In the December quarter, Apple’s services revenue rose 6% year over year to $20.77 billion. Meanwhile, its hardware sales declined 8% to $96.39 billion. Services include the App Store, AppleCare, iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and other offerings.

In late October, Apple raised prices for the first time on its Apple Music and Apple TV+ services. It also hiked the price for its Apple One services bundle.

Meanwhile, Apple is facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.S., Europe and Asia for its App Store policies, including its 30% commission fee.

Apple Product Rumors Persist

Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories unit saw sales drop 8% to $13.5 billion in the December quarter amid product shortages. This unit includes wearables like the Apple Watch, AirPods wireless earbuds and Beats headphones. It also contains the Apple HomePod wireless speaker and other miscellaneous gadgets.

News leaks suggest that Apple will announce a headset for virtual reality and augmented reality in 2023. The computer headset could be a driver of Apple stock, analysts say.

Meanwhile, speculation continues that Apple is looking to make a self-driving electric car.

Apple Earnings: Miss and Guide Down

Late on Feb. 2, Apple missed Wall Street’s targets for its fiscal first quarter and guided lower for the current period. Still, Apple stock rose 2.4% in the next trading session.

Apple earned $1.88 a share on sales of $117.2 billion in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.94 a share on sales of $121.4 billion. On a year-over-year basis, Apple earnings fell 10% while sales dropped 5%.

For the March quarter, Apple expects sales to decline about 5%, vs. Wall Street’s estimate for a drop of less than 1%.

In the December quarter, Apple’s iPhone revenue sank 8% to $65.8 billion. Wall Street was looking for $68 billion. Smartphones accounted for 56% of the company’s total sales in the period.

Meanwhile, Apple’s Mac computer sales tumbled 29% to $7.7 billion. However, Apple’s iPad business bucked the downtrend, growing 30% to $9.4 billion in the holiday quarter.

The company’s next earnings report won’t be until late April.

Apple Stock Retreats From Record High

In January 2022, Apple hit a market value of $3 trillion when its shares reached 182.86. It was the first company to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion.

It notched a record high of 182.94 before pulling back. AAPL stock trended lower in the weeks that followed and it attempted to rally several times last year.

Apple’s Storied History

Apple has been an American success story several times over. First, it ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II. Then it reinvented the PC in the 1980s with the Macintosh.

Co-founder Steve Jobs returned to run Apple in 1997 and oversaw a winning streak of innovations that included the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and the App Store.

The biggest driver of Apple’s modern success is the iPhone. The game-changing smartphone, which debuted in 2007, sparked years of massive growth and created a loyal base of customers willing to buy Apple products and services.

Exclusive Apple Stock Ratings

After hitting its record high at the start of 2022, Apple stock pulled back as much as 32%.

AAPL stock has an IBD Relative Strength Rating of 37 out of 99. The Relative Strength Rating shows how a stock’s price performance stacks up against all other stocks over the last 52 weeks.

Apple stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 61 out of 99, according to the IBD Stock Checkup tool. IBD’s Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings of fundamental and technical performance into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.

Also, Apple ranked No. 5 on IBD’s 2022 100 Best ESG Companies list. ESG is short for environmental, social and governance.

AAPL Stock Technical Analysis

For the past 58 weeks, AAPL stock has been consolidating with buy point of 183.04, according to IBD MarketSmith charts. It ended the regular session Feb. 10 at 151.01.

In a positive sign, Apple stock has been trading above its 50-day moving average line, as well as its 200-day line. Also, its relative strength line has been rising lately as it outperforms the S&P 500 this year.

Apple stock has an IBD Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A-, indicating institutional buying of shares.

Source: finance. yahoo.com

Executives are doing a great job talking down the US economy: Morning Brief

Powerful executives running public companies are collectively doing a great job at 1) worrying investors about the path forward for profit and cash flow growth this earnings season; and 2) managing expectations so their business could potentially beat earnings estimates even if the U.S. enters a mild recession in 2023.

And if CEOs sound dreary on earnings calls this reporting season, it’s probably because they have a lot of concerns on their minds.

According to a recent Conference Board survey, “the number one concern for CEOs around the world is the economic downturn and recession.” Inflation – also no friend to the top and bottom lines – comes in second.

“What we are hearing from retailers is better than what we heard in the fourth quarter, but it does vary through retailers,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said. “On the industrial side, quite a bit of strength.”

PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston told that he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a mild recession in the U.S. this year.

“Frankly, we are coming out of 2022 which was just an outstanding year,” Johnston explained. “I mean, 14% revenue growth, strong EPS. Obviously, the company is just firing on all cylinders. We have good momentum coming into the year, but we are also aware of the fact in a high-interest rate environment it could start to drag at some point.”

Amid the cautious C-suite talk and relatively weak earnings growth, the S&P is up about 6.5% so far in 2023 the year and the Nasdaq is up nearly 12%.

Corporate America may be on to something, however. If we are not at the beginning of a new bull market, then we could be in for a rude awakening at some point in 2023.

“I think at some point we are going to break last year’s lows on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq,” Academy Securities strategist Peter Tchir told. “In particular the Nasdaq, we are going to go through that because everyone got bullish again and we are going to realize oops, this is not as good.”

Happy Trading!

Source: finance.yahoo.com