Weekly StockWatch: Ford EV Ramp-Up, Amazon Health Care Presence, Tesla & Netflix Results and More
Ford EV Update
The historic automaker provided an update regarding tis electric vehicle aspirations, a business on which it has been pushing hard with an expanding line-up and the Model-E business.
The Ford Motor Company is on track to achieve 600,000 EV deliveries/year by late 2023 and aims to achieve a 2 million+ run rate by 2026 . CEO Jim Farley noted that the firm is "putting the industrial system in place to scale quickly" due to "huge enthusiasm and demand for its electric lineup". [1]
The EV king, Tesla for comparison, delivered almost 1 million electric vehicles in 2021 and has already delivered 564,743 units in the first half of the current year. [2]
On the internal combustion front, Ford unveiled this week the most powerful version of its best selling F-series truck, the F-150 Raptor with 700 horsepower. [3]
F.us is having a good week and month with a five-day profitable streak, trying to recover from the first-half slump.
Netflix Not So Bad Quarter
The troubled leader of the streaming industry, released its quarterly results for the second quarter of the year which were not as bad as feared. [4]
Netflix had projected a shocking loss of 2 million subscribers for the reported period, but actually relinquished 970,000 users, which looks quite good in comparison. Furthermore, it now expects its user base to grow again and add one million subscribers during the third quarter.
It also provided an update on its plans to add a cheaper ad-supported subscription plan, which is expected next year.
NFLX.us strengthened after the less bad than feared results and gains nearly 20% on the week, at the time of writing.
Tesla Strong Results
The king of the Electric Vehicle (EV) market reported its latest results on Wednesday and posted Revenue growth of 42% year-over-year in Q2, while its Operating Income increased to $2.464 billion [5].
However, this was not an easy period for Tesla and this was evident on the quarterly comparison, since those figures were worse than the ones reported in Q1.
Production declined for second quarter in a row as the Shanghai factory was closed or partially closed due to Covid-19 lockdowns for most of the quarter, but managed to recover to record production in June.
CEO Elon Musk also offered an update on the futuristic Cybertruck, saying that he expects delivery to begin in mid-2023.
TSLA.us gain more than 10% this week and jumped on Thursday, after the solid quarterly results.
Snap Disappointment
The social media and messaging app released disappointing earnings report for Q2 on Thursday after market closed, with the company saying that it is "not satisfied" with the results it delivered, "regardless of the current headwinds". [6]
Revenue grew 13% year-over-year to $1.11 and was marginally better than the previous quarter as well. Its Net Loss widened to $422 million and its Adjusted EBITDA plunged to $7 million, while free cash flow turned negative $147 million.
Daily active users (DAU) however grew to 347 million, marking an increase on bot annual and quarterly basis, with the company noting "a number of encouraging engagement trends" across its platform.
The poor results don't come as a surprise though, since Snap had issued a profit and revenue warning back in May [7], which had sparked a an around 40% collapse of its stock after the news.
This time around, the tech firm refrained from providing guidance for Q3, as "forward-looking visibility remains incredibly challenging". Furthermore, it announced a "substantially reduced rate of hiring and a strict reprioritization of goals and initiatives."
Markets reacted extremely bad to the quarterly results with the tock shedding around 30% in pre-market at the time of writing.
Amazon Deepens Health Care Presence
Nearly two years ago, the tech and retail behemoth had stepped into the health sector, with the launch of Amazon Pharmacy – an online store for purchasing subscription medication. [8]
Since then it has been making progress on that front and earlier in the year, it partnered with virtual heath care provider Teladoc Health. This will allows users of Amazon's Alexa to ask the voice service for health problems and causes. [9]
This week, Amazon.com deepened its healthcare presence, having signed an Agreement to acquire US primary care provider One Medical, for $3.9 billion. [10]
VP of Amazon Health Services, Neil Lindsay said that "together with One Medical's human-centered and technology-powered approach to health care, we believe we can and will help more people get better care, when and how they need it."
Australian ANZ to Buy Suncorp Bank
Australian banking giant ANZ announced at the start of the week, that it has entered into an agreement to buy Suncorp's banking business, with the deal expected to close at the second half of 2023. [11] As per ANZ, the agreement includes $47 billion of home loans with strong risk profile, $45 billion in high-quality deposits and $11 billion in commercial loans.
The acquisition is at valued at A$4.9 billion and in order to fund it, ANZ raise A$3.5 billion, by issuing new stock. Trading on ANZ's stock was halted and reopened on Thursday, registering two profitable days.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group also released its trading update for Q2 FY2022 this week, with Shayne Elliott talking of a "pleasing quarter" and highlighting the performance of the home loan business in Australia. [12]
ANZ.au comes from a poor second quarter during which it shed around 20% of its value, but July is profitable so far.
Next Week (July 25-29)
This is a big week for earnings, with Big Tech taking center stage, as the rest of the FAANGs – Meta Platforms (Facebook), Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) – announce their results, as well as tech juggernaut Microsoft.
The auto industry is also in the spotlight, with Ford Motor Company, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Volkswagen and Renault, all reporting during the upcoming week.
That is not all though, since troubled US airplane maker Boeing and its European rival Airbus are also due this week, whereas markets will also turn to the UK banking sector, with Lloyds and Barclays standing out.
Nikos Tzabouras
Senior Financial Editorial Writer
Nikos Tzabouras is a graduate of the Department of International & European Economic Studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has a long time presence at FXCM, as he joined the company in 2011. He has served from multiple positions, but specializes in financial market analysis and commentary.
With his educational background in international relations, he emphasizes not only on Technical Analysis but also in Fundamental Analysis and Geopolitics – which have been having increasing impact on financial markets. He has longtime experience in market analysis and as a host of educational trading courses via online and in-person sessions and conferences.
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