Tag Archives: tsla

Tesla Motors And ‘Cousin’ SolarCity Breach Key Support

Loading the player… SolarCity ( SCTY ) and Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) are breaching support at key levels in the stock market today. SolarCity reports quarterly results next Monday. The stock rose nearly 5% Wednesday morning on a bullish analyst rating, but it reversed lower amid a market sell-off. SolarCity fell 10.6% to 23.65, breaking below its 50-day moving average in quick turnover. The stock has fallen for five straight sessions. SolarCity is trading about 63% off its 52-week high, as shares have been scorched in recent months by Nevada’s new net-metering rules. Guggenheim initiated coverage on the solar panel installer with a buy rating and a price target of 38. On Monday, Credit Suisse cut its price target on SolarCity to 62 from 89 while maintaining its outperform rating. When it reports after the close next Monday, SolarCity is expected to report a 61% revenue rise, while its per-share loss widens to $2.34 a share from $1.52 a share last year. SolarCity’s “cousin company” Tesla — which is helmed by SolarCity Chairman Elon Musk — reports after the close tonight, Wednesday evening. Tesla stock sank 4.2% to 222.56, breaching support at its 50-day and 200-day lines. Tesla is projected to show a widened bottom-line loss on sales growth of 45% as the automaker ramps up production of its Model X car, projected to go for $80,000 and up. Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage units are now beginning residential installations. SolarCity, whose founders are Musk’s cousins, is incorporating the Tesla batteries into its own energy storage system. Meanwhile, SolarCity rival Sunrun ( RUN ) reports earnings next Thursday. The August 2015 IPO’s sales are projected to come in at $83.4 million, down 16% from Q4, while its loss deepens from last quarter to 53 cents a share. Sunrun is up nearly 60% from its February low, but it is still nearly 50% below its all-time high reached in December. Sunrun fell 1.6% Wednesday . Elsewhere in the solar panel space, Solaredge ( SEDG ) fell 4%, and First Solar ( FSLR ) retreated by 2%. First Solar has lost 16% in five days since reporting weaker-than-expected revenue last week. Sunpower ( SPWR ), which reports earnings Thursday, fell 2.35%.

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.

Apple Hires Former Google X Lab Leader For Health Care Push

Apple ( AAPL ) continues to bring in more engineering talent amid a fall for its stock. The company has reportedly hired Yoky Matsuoka, most recently head of technology at Google’s Nest, to work on health science projects. Matsuoka, a robotics expert, co-founded Google’s experimental Google X lab in 2009 before joining Nest. While Nest has been struggling, Matsuoka left the smart house company last year before negative media reports surfaced. A Fortune report says Matsuoka will work on Apple’s HealthKit, ResearchKit and Carekit software projects. Apple last month hired Chris Porritt, who had been Tesla ’s ( TSLA ) vice president of vehicle engineering. He will work on Titan, Apple’s car project, reports say. Google restructured last year, creating  Alphabet ( GOOGL ) as the umbrella company over its main company, Google, and over its far-flung investments, known internally as “Other Bets.” Google bought Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in early 2014. Nest, a maker of web-connected devices, then acquired Dropcam for $555 million in cash. Nest CEO Tony Fadell has come under pressure as top executives leave. As a senior vice president at Apple before co-founding Nest in 2008, Fadell helped developed the iPod. Former Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy and other employees recently left Nest. Nest also has parted ways with its director of hardware design and engineering, Shige Honjo, said Re/code .