Tag Archives: tsla

Tesla Up 20% This Month: What Does Short Seller Citron Think Now?

Loading the player… With Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) now trading at its highest levels this year, Citron Research’s short position in the electric-car maker’s stock has not been successful so far. Citron said on March 1 that Tesla had “supply AND demand problems,” which “should take down” the stock to 100 by the end of the year. Shares are currently trading around 235. Shares reversed fractionally higher in light turnover on Tuesday, building on its seven straight daily gains. Citron sent out its tweet one session after the stock hit resistance at its 50-day line. But Tesla was able to retake that level soon after and recently recaptured the 200-day line too. The stock has risen about 23% since the Citron tweet. Other Citron shorts, including GoPro ( GPRO ), Ambarella ( AMBA ) and Mobileye ( MBLY ), have not fared as well. GoPro is trading 80% below its 52-week high, while Ambarella is 68% below its 52-week peak. Mobileye is about 44% below its high reached last August. Tesla Unveiling Model 3 Soon Tesla shares could be getting a boost from the upcoming launch of its mass-market Model 3, which will be unveiled next Thursday. But with gas prices still at very low levels and Tesla struggling to ramp up production, some remain skeptical. Many of the top automakers are rushing out their own EVs. Tesla’s $35,000 car is set to compete with mainstream car brand offerings, most notably the Chevy Bolt from General Motors ( GM ). Tesla has made its mark in the luxury electric car space and has been a leader in implementing autonomous driving features with its Autopilot software. Other notable companies working on self-driving cars include Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google and China’s Baidu ( BIDU ). Even Apple ( AAPL ) is reportedly doing work on its own car, dubbed “Project Titan.” Alphabet, Baidu and Apple shares were up a fraction Tuesday, while General Motors edged down.

Sunrun Unveils Tesla-Backed Storage In Net-Metering Rattled Hawaii

No. 2 residential solar installer Sunrun ( RUN ) could trigger Hawaiian solar growth with a Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) battery-backed storage offering following regulators’ 2015 decision to cut net-metering subsidies, a Credit Suisse analyst said Monday. And despite a bulkier subsidy cut in Nevada that doesn’t grandfather in existing customers, Sunrun will flare on its impressive access to capital, Credit Suisse analyst Patrick Jobin wrote in a research report. Jobin retained an outperform rating and 21 price target on Sunrun stock. Sunrun stock was up a fraction in afternoon trading on the stock market today , while shares of No. 1 installer  SolarCity ( SCTY ) were down 1%. IBD’s 21-company Energy-Solar industry group was down nearly 1%, after falling 1.5% Friday. It ranks No. 54 out of 197 groups tracked. Year to date, Sunrun and SolarCity stocks are down a respective 43% and 47%, under-performing the industry group that has fallen 22% on continued volatility in Nevada despite Congress’ late December extension to a key federal subsidy. Still, “industry dynamics continue to favor Sunrun and SolarCity and highlight increasing barriers to entry,” Jobin wrote. “Further, we were impressed with Sunrun’s ability to outmaneuver peers in the capital markets.” Jobin sees a 214% upside to Sunrun stock. Sunrun, SolarCity Curb 2016 Growth In Q4, Sunrun guided to 40% growth in 2016 vs. consensus expectations for 60%-80% growth, echoing SolarCity, which earlier indicated 44% growth vs. traditional annual growth of 80%. But Sunrun and SolarCity differ in their rationale. SolarCity is aiming to become cash flow positive. Sunrun is focusing on cost reductions and maximized returns and, this month, guided to a 15% year-over-year reduction in 2016 for its channel business . Instead, Sunrun now expects to double its direct business over the course of 2016. “The company is on the fastest path to reaching the ‘Holy Grail’ of residential solar leasing companies whereby the third-party capital can cover all upfront costs,” Jobin wrote. Sunrun also unveiled a solar-plus-storage solution coined BrightBox to reinvigorate Hawaiian solar growth, after the state suspended payments to solar customers for excess energy fed back into the grid. The state was at 17% solar penetration when that vote came down. Firms like SunPower ( SPWR ), SolarCity, SolarEdge ( SEDG ) and Sunrun have long worked to make solar storage economical. Without it, utilities must buy the excess energy fed back into the grid. In 2015, however, Nevada and Hawaii cut net-metering payments to solar customers. Within a day, SolarCity and Sunrun said they would exit Nevada, the latter threatening to file suit. Now, Sunrun has managed to reduce its solar storage costs by 50% year over year, Jobin wrote. BrightBox customers are expected to reduce their utility bills by 15%. “The adoption of solar plus storage, if economic, can mitigate the risk in other states if utilities degrade the economics of net-metered energy,” he wrote. And “a solar plus storage solution in Hawaii should allow growth to resume.” In Hawaii, neighborhood constraints have restricted new customers from adopting solar. The BrightBox solution circumvents those restrictions, allowing Sunrun to tap into the remaining 83% of the state without solar.

Chip Game On: AMD May Undercut Nvidia With Intel Deal; Who’s In VR?

Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) might score an Intel ( INTC ) license deal. It would scoop  Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) partner Nvidia ( NVDA ), which receives $66 million in quarterly royalties from the No. 1 chipmaker, a Needham analyst says. But Argus analyst Jim Kelleher says that Nvidia has distanced itself from the PC market, instead focusing on niche growth areas like virtual reality (VR), autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics. In VR, Facebook ( FB )-owned Oculus recommends Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices graphics cards for its Rift series. This week, Oculus announced 30 new titles and demoed the tech at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Calif. Graphics cards are outfitted with GPUs, or graphics processing units. Advanced ones are needed for many of today’s richly visual computing experiences that are computationally intensive — everything from the movement in gameplay to VR and many other kinds of applications. Nvidia’s Intel Royalty To Expire On Friday, Kelleher initiated coverage on Nvidia stock with a buy rating and a 39 price target, a day after Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill reiterated a hold rating on Nvidia stock following the Intel-Advanced Micro Devices rumor. Nvidia is on the IBD 50 list of leading growth stocks. In early trading on the stock market today , Nvidia stock surged 3.9%, trading near 34.10 and in buy range from a 33.16 cup-with-handle buy point. Advanced Micro Devices stock flew higher, up 4.3%, but usually trades considerably lower, near 3. Nvidia’s royalty deal with Intel is set to expire in 2017, and the GPU leader failed in December to defend its patents in a lawsuit against Samsung and Apple ( AAPL ) supplier Qualcomm ( QCOM ). “We don’t litigate for our business model,” CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told investors in November. “We don’t depend on licensing for our business model.” To offset the loss of Intel’s royalty stream — which will impact 2017 earnings per share by 25-30 cents — Nvidia needs to add $470 million in annual revenue, Gill wrote in a research report. He noted that Intel can continue using Nvidia patents filed before March 31, 2017. “While Nvidia has expressed interest in monetizing its GPU patent assets, we have seen little evidence to date that this will materialize,” he wrote. Nvidia controls 75%-80% of the GPU market, having long ago ceded the gaming console market to Advanced Micro Devices, which provides its RADEON semi-customized chips to Sony ( SNE ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ). Nvidia Shifts To Gaming In 2013, PC sales accounted for 42% of total Nvidia revenue. In 2016, gaming, enterprise graphics, data center and automotive brought in 85% of total revenue, dropping PC sales down to 9%. IP brought in 6%. Gaming represents a $20 billion market opportunity for Nvidia, leading $8 billion, $6.5 billion and $5 billion opportunities in the artificial intelligence, enterprise graphics and data center markets, respectively, Kelleher wrote. In fiscal 2016, gaming (largely PC) generated $2.8 billion of Nvidia’s total $5.01 billion in sales, up 30% year over year. Nvidia targets 5%-10% annual growth “based on gamers’ insatiable desire for improved graphics in games,” he wrote. Nvidia also pulled in $750 million in enterprise graphics, $340 million in data center and $320 million in automotive. In fiscal 2016, Nvidia’s automotive segment grew 80% year over year and includes Nvidia-Tesla-partnered GPUs. The U.S. Department of Energy selected Nvidia’s NVLink interconnected technology coupled with IBM ( IBM ) processors to power its next-generation supercomputers, 10 times faster than current supercomputers. Kelleher recognized that 2018 earnings might flatten as Nvidia makes further investments in “growth niches.” “We regard this as an acceptable trade-off for building share in markets that could drive significant growth in years to come,” he wrote.