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Tesla Losing Two Executives Ahead Of Q1 Report; Stock Slides

Just hours before it was due to report first-quarter financials, Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) confirmed Wednesday that two of its key executives were leaving, sending its stock tumbling. Around midday, Bloomberg broke the news that Greg Reichow , Tesla’s vice president of production, and manufacturing chief Josh Ensign will exit the electric automaker, bringing the number of vice presidents who’ve left so far this year to five. Reichow, who joined in 2011, was a particularly significant player at Tesla, having led a team responsible for “building an all-new manufacturing organization from the ground up and for making Model S and Model X a reality,” according to Chief Executive Elon Musk. Reichow’s departure was described as a leave of absence, but its length wasn’t specified. Bloomberg also cited an anonymous source saying that glitches in the launch of the Model X SUV were tied to the executives’ departures, though Tesla denied this. Tesla stock fell 4.2% to 222.56 on the stock market today . The stock has been sliding for the last week, as sentiment ahead of the quarterly report has been mixed to negative. On Friday, Robert W. Baird analyst Ben Kallo cut his first-quarter estimates  based on the troubled launch of the Model X, a few days after UBS analyst Colin Langan wrote that the Model 3 sedan, currently taking pre-orders ahead of its release, could not be profitable with its $35,000 price tag. On the other hand, on Tuesday Stifel analyst James Albertine affirmed his buy rating, and defended the Model X. “Despite Model X launch hiccups, including a 2,700-unit recall related to third-row seats that could fold forward during a crash, we think management approached this as an opportunity to showcase its world-class customer service and may have improved the brand,” Albertine wrote in his research note.

Investing Action Plan For Thursday: Alibaba, Mobileye, 3D Systems On Tap

Here’s your Investing Action Plan for Thursday: What you need to know as an investor for the coming day. Alibaba Group ( BABA ), 3D Systems ( DDD ),  Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) supplier Mobileye ( MBLY ), Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ) and shale producer EOG Resources ( EOG ) are all due to report earnings Thursday. Alibaba Top Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba is on tap to announce results for its fourth quarter, ended March 31, prior to the market opening on Thursday. Investors will look for a rise in the value of goods sold on its various platforms. The company, sometimes called the Amazon.com ( AMZN ) of China, reported better-than-expected earnings last quarter, but shares fell after it said that growth in gross merchandise volume, a measure of total value of goods sold, shrank from the prior quarter. First-quarter gross merchandise volume will be key in the upcoming report. Consensus is for a 21% increase in earnings to 56 cents a share on a 33% hike in revenue to $3.58 billion. Alibaba fell 0.9% in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Mobileye The advanced driver assistance systems maker, which sells to luxury electric carmaker Tesla Motors and others, also reports early Thursday. Tesla, General Motors ( GM ), Ford Motor ( F ) and other automakers, along with tech giants like Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google and reportedly Apple ( AAPL ), are racing to develop autonomous, self-driving car technology. Mobileye’s backup cameras and other high tech gear are seen as key to such systems. On April 19, Mobileye announced a partnership to expand in China with Chinese e-commerce site Ingdan.com, a unit of Hong Kong-based Cogobuy Group. Under terms of the deal, Ingdan.com will sell Mobileye products on its site. Mobileye was down 4.4% Wednesday. Tesla reports first-quarter results after the market close on Wednesday. Analyst consensus is for per share loss to deepen to 57 cents from 37 cents in Q1 2015 as it boosts spending to expand Model X production and build the Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada. Tesla slid 4.7% ahead of results and amid reports that key production chiefs are leaving. 3D Systems 3D Systems will report first-quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday . 3D printing could be poised to recover from a two-year decline. Leaders 3D Systems and Stratasys ( SSYS ) — which reports May 9 — grew at a rapid pace for years by selling so-called “additive printers,” which create physical objects by layering on materials such as plastic and metal to build a variety of devices. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for 3D Systems’ earnings per share minus one-time items to be flat at 5 cents a share vs. Q1 2015 and are projecting a slight dip in revenue to $156.3 million. Sentiment is positive though after 3D Systems crushed estimates last quarter, reporting a 19-cent profit, more than six times the expected 3 cents, and its $183.4 million revenue easily topped forecasts. 3D Systems tumbled 5% intraday Wednesday, undercutting its 50-day line, after tumbling 7.4% Tuesday and 6.3% Monday. Stratasys fell 3.9%. Sprouts Farmers Market Natural and organic foods grocery Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ) reports first-quarter financial results early Thursday. Consensus is for earnings to rise 16% to 29 cents a share and revenue to climb 18% to $1.01 billion.But Sprouts has beaten earnings estimates in the last two quarters. Sprouts hass gotten a series of analyst upgrades recently, including Oppenheimer raising its price target Monday to 30 from 26 with a hold rating. Sprouts rose 0.5%. In contrast, rival Whole Foods Market ( WFM ) has delivered below market performance this year and is scheduled to report after the close Wednesday. Its earnings and revenue growth both shrank the last two quarters in a row. Its stock is down 15% year to date and was down about 1% Wednesday afternoon. EOG Resources Oil and natural gas producer EOG Resources ( EOG ) will report results late Thursday. Gas prices climbed to a six-month high at a national average of $2.22 per gallon as the industry tries to recover from plunging prices. EOG is expected to record an 84 cents loss vs. a 3 cent profit in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue is projected to fall 28.1% to $1.67 billion. EOG shares were down 1.5% Wednesday. On Wednesday, Carrizo Oil & Gas ( CRZO ) and Noble Energy ( NBL ) raised production targets .

Salesforce Upside? Internet Of Things Might Boost Customer Service

The Internet of Things could put some oomph back into Salesforce.com ’s ( CRM ) revenue growth, though a Morgan Stanley report still sees a compound annual growth rate of 25% through fiscal 2019. Salesforce is the No. 1 maker of CRM, or customer relationship management software. It pioneered software-as-a-service, selling online subscriptions to its products that customers bought as needed. Saleforce’s revenue growth slowed to 24% in fiscal 2016 ended Jan. 31, after rising from 32% to 37% in fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2015. Keith Weiss, a Morgan Stanley analyst, forecasts 25% CAGR revenue growth for Salesforce.com over the next three years. “The rapid growth of the Internet of Things and connected devices has the potential to bring transformative change to the customer service industry,” said Weiss in a research report. “We see cloud-based customer service applications as one of the most likely (and first) areas to benefit from the IoT trend.” The Internet of Things refers to wireless technology that connects industrial, medical, automotive and consumer devices to the Internet. “Despite a leading market share in customer service solutions, we believe meaningful opportunities remain for Salesforce.com to expand its wallet share among existing customers and target adjacent opportunities …,” Weiss wrote. The San Francisco-based company has steadily expanded its focus from mostly small businesses to large enterprises. Salesforce.com stock is down nearly 6% in 2016 and was down 1%, near 74, in afternoon trading in the stock market today .  But Salesforce stock is up more than 40% since touching a 20-month low below 53 in early February. Salesforce.com has a high IBD Composite Rating of 92 out of a possible 99, though IBD’s Computer Software-Enterprise group ranks just No. 126 out of 197 groups.