MZDAY

Tesla Scaling Up Nicely

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Image Shown: Tesla Inc is steadily working towards bringing another manufacturing facility online in the US, this time near Austin, Texas. Image Source: Tesla Inc – Shareholder Letter Covering the First Quarter of 2021 By Callum Turcan Electric vehicle (‘EV’) giant Tesla Inc (TSLA) continues to impress as it smashed past consensus top- and bottom-line estimates when it reported first quarter 2021 earnings on April 26. The company delivered 184,800 vehicles (182,780 Model 3/Y variants and 2,020 Model S/X variants) and produced 180,338 vehicles in the first quarter of this year, though we note that Tesla only produced Model 3/Y variants last quarter and Model S/X vehicle deliveries were met via its inventory. In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla’s … Read more

General Motors Makes a Deal with Nikola

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Image Shown: On September 8, shares of General Motors Corporation (in orange) and Nikola Corporation (in blue) jumped higher during normal trading hours after announcing their strategic partnership. By Callum Turcan On September 8, General Motors Corporation (GM) and Nikola Corporation (NKLA) announced a strategic partnership that saw shares of GM and NKLA leap up 8% and 41% during regular trading hours that day, respectively. General Motors will receive an 11% equity stake in Nikola (via common stock issuance) worth ~$2 billion in return for agreeing to provide Nikola in-kind services as “General Motors will engineer, homologate, validate and manufacture the Nikola Badger battery electric and fuel cell versions” which involves utilizing General Motors’ “Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel … Read more

Tesla Surges on Promising Production Report

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Image Shown: Shares of Tesla Inc have more than tripled year-to-date, as of this writing, due to growing optimism about the electric vehicle and battery maker’s long-term growth outlook. By Callum Turcan On July 2, Tesla Inc (TSLA) provided an update on the number of electric vehicles it produced and delivered during the second quarter of 2020, when its domestic manufacturing capabilities were hit the hardest by the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. This report likely acted as the catalyst for the latest run up in shares of TSLA as its technicals have “gone parabolic” of late. Production Update During the second quarter of this year, Tesla reported that it produced ~82,300 vehicles (including ~6,300 of the more expensive Model S/X … Read more

Data from Visa Indicates the Economic Outlook is Improving

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Image Shown: Visa Inc reports that US processed transactions volumes across its payment processing network improved materially on a year-over-year basis in May, relatively speaking, versus the downturn seen in the second half of March and the first half of April. Image Source: Visa Inc – 8-K SEC Filing By Callum Turcan One of our favorite secular growth industry tailwinds is happening in the payment processing, payment solutions, and financial technology space. The world is shifting toward a “cashless” society, and that has accelerated due to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, in part due to the rise of e-commerce and in part due to the preference of many consumers to use contactless payment options when in physical stores. Visa Inc … Read more

Nikola Corp Shares Skyrocket After Getting Listed

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Image Shown: Shares of Nikola Corporation have skyrocketed since completing a business combination with a special purpose acquisition company in early-June 2020. By Callum Turcan Nikola Corporation (NKLA) completed its business combination with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp (a special purpose acquisition company or ‘SPAC’) on June 3, 2020, and a day later shares started trading under the NKLA ticker (VectolQ Acquisition previously traded under the ticker VTIQ). Effectively, this allowed Nikola Corp to become publicly traded without undergoing a “conventional” initial public offering (‘IPO’) and furthermore, the combination raised over $700 million to fund Nikola Corp’s ambitions. VectolQ Acquisition was sponsored by VectoIQ Holdings LLC, P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP, and Cowen. Nikola Corp is run by CEO Mark Russell and … Read more

Detroit Automakers on the Ropes, Tesla Continues to Dominate

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Image Source: GM We’re not sure the Detroit automakers will ever be the same after COVID-19. The global pandemic might be the knock-out blow that keeps them on the canvas for a long time, as the group continues to face changing consumer preferences and the rise and dominance of Tesla. Cash preservation is the name of the game at the moment, as they await a restart to some of their U.S. operations May 18. By Brian Nelson, CFA The legacy automakers continue to be in a world of hurt as environmentally conscious consumers begin to dominate the landscape. It is an irreversible trend that General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) once had in their hands to capitalize … Read more

Steel Dynamics Bets Big on North America’s Industrial Economy

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Image Source: Steel Dynamics Inc – June 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan Investor sentiment towards the steel industry is rebounding as the medium- and long-term outlook for global industrial activity has improved markedly since March 2020. The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has significantly hampered near-term industrial activity, though major fiscal stimulus packages (made feasible through major monetary stimulus programs) launched in various developed nations could provide some relief. Shares of Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD) have recovered meaningfully since their March 2020 lows and are trading a tad below our fair value estimate as of this writing. Shares of STLD yield ~3.6% on an annualized forward-looking basis as of this writing and we give the steel maker a Dividend Cushion … Read more

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Market Is Hot and Getting Hotter

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Image Shown: A look at Tesla Inc’s new Gigafactory factory (Model Y body shop) in Shanghai, China. Image Source: Tesla Inc – Third Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan The electric vehicle (‘EV’) market is hot and getting hotter. Aided by a combination of supportive government policies such as subsides for EVs (purchase tax credits, manufacturing tax credits), plans to ban the sale of automobiles powered by internal combustion engines (‘ICE’) in the coming years, and shifting consumer preferences (households preferring to appear “green”), the long-term outlook for EV sales is quite bright. Tesla Inc (TSLA) is the posterchild of the EV boom given its first-mover advantage, though competitive headwinds are rising. Legacy auto manufacturers are looking … Read more