Best-performing tech stocks in December 2024

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has concluded its legal battle with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc., with both parties agreeing to drop their respective claims, according to Bloomberg News.

The dispute, which has been ongoing since JPMorgan filed a lawsuit in 2021, centered around a 2014 stock warrant transaction and was tied to a tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The bank had sought $162 million from Tesla, asserting that it was owed shares or cash based on the terms of their agreement. This agreement was put in place to protect Tesla from potential stock dilution resulting from convertible notes and to secure certain tax deductions.

The conflict escalated following Musk's tweet in August 2018, in which he expressed consideration of taking Tesla private at $420 per share, claiming he had "funding secured."

JPMorgan adjusted the strike price of the warrants in response to the tweet and subsequent events, stating it was within its rights to do so due to the volatility of Tesla's stock.

Tesla countered by accusing JPMorgan of manipulating the situation to lower the strike price unjustly, thereby breaching their contract and attempting to secure an unwarranted financial gain.

The mutual decision to withdraw the litigation was made public in a brief court document filed on Friday. The details of any settlement that may have been reached were not disclosed in the filing.

The conclusion of this legal matter follows a September ruling by US District Judge Paul Gardephe, who presides over the Southern District of New York court. Judge Gardephe denied JPMorgan's request for a pre-trial judgment in its favor, which would have dismissed Tesla's counterclaims.

Representatives for both Tesla and JPMorgan, as well as their legal teams, have not provided comments regarding the recent development in the case. The case, formally known as JPMorgan Chase Bank v. Tesla Inc., was being heard in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Despite the quieter back half of the week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there was still plenty of action in the markets, with several names capturing investor attention. Here are Investing.com’s stocks of the week: Symbotic (SYM), Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN), and Rocket Lab USA (RKLB).

Symbotic 

Symbotic shares plunged over 37% on Wednesday after the company announced it would not meet the deadline for filing its annual form 10-K for the fiscal year ending September 28, 2024. It cited the need to evaluate the financial impact of a significant error in its revenue recognition.

The company disclosed that the error, related to cost overruns that are not billable on certain deployments, has impacted its system revenue calculations and financial results for the year.

While analysts at TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating on the stock, saying the “reaction [is] likely overdone,” DA Davidson, Craig-Hallum, and KeyBanc cut the stock to Hold/Neutral following the news. 

Rivian

Rivian made solid gains this week. On Monday, its stock closed over 13% higher after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) announced it had reached a "conditional" settlement in its 2020 lawsuit accusing Rivian of employee poaching to steal electric-vehicle trade secrets.

While Tesla did not reveal the details of the agreement, it is said to have told a California state judge that it plans to dismiss the case by December 24, provided the settlement terms are fulfilled.

Rivian also announced on Monday that it had received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program for a loan of up to $6.6 billion to accelerate its growth of electric vehicle design, development, and manufacturing in the United States.

Reacting to that news, analysts at Truist stated: “We view the announcement as an incremental positive for the RIVN story providing another avenue for capital alongside the Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) (VOW-GR, NR) JV, however given the timeline of the project with Phase 1 not expected to begin production until 2028, we expect the focus to remain on R2 startup at Georgia for the time being.”

Rocket Lab USA

Rocket Lab USA shares continued to surge this week, gaining more than 18% (at the time of writing on Friday). It is currently trading around the $27.32 mark after gaining around 6.4% on Friday. 

The week started well for the company, with its stock jumping on the back of news it received a $23.9 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce and completed two successful satellite launches within 24 hours.

The funding, awarded under the CHIPS and Science Act, is expected to support Rocket Lab's efforts to expand compound semiconductor manufacturing at its Albuquerque, New Mexico facility.

Meanwhile, the company hit a new operational milestone, successfully conducting two launches within a 24-hour period. The first was launched from its facility in Virginia, followed shortly by the “Ice AIS Baby” mission from New Zealand.

This second mission placed five satellites into low Earth orbit for Kinéis, a French operator developing an Internet-of-Things satellite constellation.

KeyBanc raised its target for RKLB to $27 from $12 per share, maintaining an Overweight rating on the stock.