Stock Markets
Tesla tightens grip on EV-charging space: This week in EVs
Here is your weekly Pro Recap of the past week’s biggest headlines in the electric vehicle space: GM allies with Tesla; charging startups in need of a boost; all eyes on Stellantis.
As always, InvestingPro users got these headlines at lightning speed. Never miss another opportunity to secure an edge for your portfolio.
Tesla and GM’s electrifying alliance
General Motors (NYSE: NYSE:GM) CEO Mary Barra confirmed this week that the company is preparing to integrate the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector, designed by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), into its EVs beginning in 2025.
The announcement, made during a live meeting on Twitter Space with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, mirrors a similar revolution made late last month when neighboring rival Ford Motor (NYSE:F) also announced a collaboration with Musk’s Tesla.
These partnerships allow Ford and GM customers to access the extensive network of Tesla Superchargers, currently numbering 12,000 and expanding.
The very next day, White House officials handed Tesla another win when they announced that the company’s Superchargers would be eligible to receive a portion of federal funds, amounting in the billions, so long as the chargers also included CCS connections.
GM climbed more than 5% for the week to $36.23. Tesla was up 4% to $244.40.
Tesla’s Steamrolling Rattles Competitors
Not everyone was excited to hear about the potential that Tesla’s NACS may become the standard in EV charging. Shares of EV charging startups like ChargePoint Holdings Inc (NYSE:CHPT) and EVgo (NASDAQ:EVGO) fell rapidly on the news.
Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), with over 4,000 charging stations in the U.S., opened trading on Friday down 0.5% before eventually falling over 10.6% on the day.
BofA analysts say the news is “somewhat cautious” for EVGO and “relatively neutral” for CHPT:
While GM expressly identified ongoing commitment to EVgo’s “eXtend” business in the release we expect investors will be uneasy about competition as it now has another major partner. In a more direct sense, given it is the site host, EVgo will now compete more directly for utilization against TSLA’s highly reliable network serving a larger piece of the future EV fleet.
All eyes on Stellantis
Following the moves by Ford and GM, all eyes are now on Stellantis (NYSE:STLA).
Analysts are expecting the Chrysler parent to put aside any differences and join its rivals in accepting Tesla’s NACS as the new standard in EV charging.
That being said, the company has yet to comment on any future plans to collaborate with Elon Musk and Tesla.
But the company was anything but silent this week as it announced the launch of its second round of share buybacks. The buyback program was announced on February 22, 2023, covering up to €1.5 billion (€1 = $1.08).
As of the announcement Wednesday, there are around 290 million shares left in the program after the first round. This should be enough to cover the program itself and any repurchases of the 99.2 million shares that Chinese JV partner Dongfeng (OTC:DNFGY) currently owns.
The automaker also announced this week a joint venture partnership with leading metals recycler Galloo. The two are currently in exclusive talks to form a joint venture with a focus on End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) recycling as part of the automaker’s ongoing commitment to boost its circular economy activities.
Shares of STLA dropped off their weekly high of $16.49 achieved Thursday morning, but still closed Friday up 2.5% for the week to $16.24.
Stock Markets
Palantir, Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contracts, FT reports
(Reuters) – Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:) and defense tech company Anduril Industries are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for U.S. government work, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The consortium, which could announce agreements with other tech groups as early as January, is expected to include SpaceX, OpenAI, autonomous shipbuilder Saronic and artificial intelligence data group Scale AI, the newspaper said, citing several people with knowledge of the matter.
“We are working together to provide a new generation of defence contractors,” a person involved in developing the group told the newspaper.
The consortium will bring together the heft of some of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies and will leverage their products to provide a more efficient way of supplying the U.S. government with cutting-edge defence and weapons capabilities, the newspaper added.
Palantir, Anduril, OpenAI, Scale AI and Saronic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. SpaceX could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Reuters reported earlier this month that President-elect Donald Trump’s planned U.S. government efficiency drive involving Elon Musk could lead to more joint projects between big defense contractors and smaller tech firms in areas such as artificial intelligence, drones and uncrewed submarines.
Musk, who was named as a co-leader of a government efficiency initiative in the incoming government, has indicated that Pentagon spending and priorities will be a target of the efficiency push, spreading anxiety at defense heavyweights such as Boeing (NYSE:) , Northrop Grumman (NYSE:) , Lockheed Martin (NYSE:) and General Dynamics (NYSE:) .
Musk and many small defense tech firms have been aligned in criticizing legacy defense programs like Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet while calling for mass production of cheaper AI-powered drones, missiles and submarines.
Such views have given major defense contractors more incentive to partner with emerging defense technology players in these areas.
Stock Markets
Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says
By Simon Lewis (JO:)
(Reuters) -The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump’s team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel’s assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
“It’s no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now … Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine’,” Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
“It’s a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It’s a risk that I’m personally briefing the incoming team on,” Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with U.S. ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran’s oil industry.
Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran’s “weakened state.”
“Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions for the long term,” he said.
Stock Markets
Ukraine says Russian general deliberately targeted Reuters staff in August missile strike
(Reuters) -Ukraine’s security service has named a Russian general it suspects of ordering a missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine in August and said he acted “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of” Reuters.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement on Friday that Colonel General Alexei Kim, a deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff, approved the strike that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and wounded two of the agency’s journalists on Aug. 24.
In a statement posted on Telegram messenger the SBU said it was notifying Kim in absentia that he was an official suspect in its investigation into the strike on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk, a step in Ukrainian criminal proceedings that can later lead to charges.
In a separate, 15-page notice of suspicion, in which the SBU set out findings from its investigation, the agency said that the decision to fire the missile was made “with the motive of deliberately killing employees of the international news agency Reuters who were engaged in journalistic activities in Ukraine”.
The document, which was published on the website of the General Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, said that Kim had received intelligence that Reuters staff were staying in Kramatorsk. It added that Kim would have been “fully aware that the individuals were civilians and not participating in the armed conflict”.
The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the SBU’s findings and has not replied to previous questions about the attack. The Kremlin also did not respond to a request for comment. Kim did not reply to messages sent by Reuters to his mobile telephone seeking comment about the SBU’s statement and whether the strike deliberately targeted Reuters staff.
The SBU did not provide evidence to support its claims, nor say why Russia targeted Reuters. In response to questions from the news agency, the security agency declined to provide further details, saying its criminal investigation was still under way and it was therefore not able to disclose such information.
Reuters has not independently confirmed any of the SBU’s claims.
Reuters said on Friday: “We note the news today from the Ukrainian security services regarding the missile attack on August 24, 2024, on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk, a civilian target more than 20 km from Russian-occupied territory.”
“The strike had devastating consequences, killing our safety adviser, Ryan Evans, and injuring members of our editorial team. We continue to seek more information about the attack. It is critically important for journalists to be able to report freely and safely,” the statement said.
Reuters declined to comment further on the allegation that its staff were deliberately targeted.
The SBU statement said Kim had been named a suspect under two articles of the Ukrainian criminal code: waging an aggressive war and violating the laws and customs of war.
“It was Kim who signed the directive and gave the combat order to fire on the hotel, where only civilians were staying,” it said.
Evans, a 38-year-old former British soldier who had worked as a safety adviser for Reuters since 2022, was killed instantly in the strike.
The SBU statement gave some details about how the strike had occurred, according to its investigation.
“To carry out the attack, the Russian colonel general involved one of his subordinate missile forces units,” the Ukrainian agency said, adding that the strike was carried out with an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
The SBU did not identify the specific unit.
Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey, a videographer for the news agency who was in a room across the corridor, was seriously wounded. Kyiv-based text correspondent Dan Peleschuk was also injured.
The remaining three members of the Reuters team escaped with minor cuts and scratches.
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