Uber CEO Is Skeptical About Elon Musk's Robotaxi Idea — Barrons.com

These ten large-cap stocks were the best performers in the last week. Are they in your portfolio?

• Shopify Inc. shares jumped 41.15% following a strong earnings report and an optimistic outlook for the third quarter of 2024. Several analysts revised the price target on the stock.
• Palantir Technologies Inc. shares rocketed 38.23% after the company reported better-than-expected results and raised its guidance. The company also announced a partnership with Microsoft Corporation for enhanced analytics and AI services to classified networks.
• Axon Enterprise, Inc. stock zoomed 30.62% after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its FY24 revenue guidance above estimates. Many analysts boosted the stock’s price target.
• Fortinet, Inc. shares were up 29.95% after the company reported quarterly results and issued guidance above estimates. Many analysts increased the price target on the stock.
• Trade Desk Inc stock gained 28.63% on better-than-expected Q2 financial results and a strong Q3 revenue outlook. Also, several analysts raised their respective price targets on the stock.
• Natera Inc. stock was up 24.28% last week on better-than-expected Q2 financial results and a strong annual revenue outlook. Several analysts also raised their respective price targets on the stock.
• SharkNinja, Inc. stock zoomed 23.21% after the company recently reported second-quarter FY24 financial results.
• Zillow Group, Inc. shares escalated 22.86% following better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
• Aspen Technology, Inc. shares grew 20.99% after the company reported fourth-quarter financial results and issued strong guidance.
• Uber Technologies, Inc. stock rose 20.73% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Several analysts raised their price targets on the stock.

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© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Electric vehicle stocks did not sidestep the market-wide sell-off seen in the week ended Aug. 9, ending lower despite the the broader market coming back up by the end of the week.

Here’s a rundown on what happened in the EV space during the week:

Tesla Launches Cybertruck In Canada: EV leader Tesla, Inc.‘s Cybertruck is coming to Canada, with Electrek reporting that the Elon Musk-led company has sent invites to reservation holders to convert their reservations into orders. The catch: Only the pricier models of the electric pickup truck are now available for Canadian customers. The AWD Foundation Series, priced at C$137,990 ($100,287) and the Cyberbeast Foundation Series, priced at C$165,990, are now available in Canada.

The week also saw YouTuber Adin Ross presenting Donald Trump a Cybertruck wrapped with an image of him standing with his fist raised after the shooting incident at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally in July.

Tesla reported strong domestic sales in China. The company sold 46,227 vehicles there in July, up 47.11% year-over-year, CnEVPost reported, citing China Passenger Car Association Data. On a month-over-month basis, sales fell about 22%.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came down hard on Tesla’s board led by Chair Robyn Denholm for allegedly not performing its fiduciary duty of protecting Tesla shareholders’ interest. In a letter she released this week, Warren criticized the board for neglecting to address Musk's apparent conflicts of interest. “It therefore appears that Mr. Musk has betrayed his duty to Tesla’s shareholders, either by knowingly prioritizing one of his private companies over Tesla or by exaggerating the extent of Tesla’s AI projects to boost investor confidence — or both,” she said.

See Also: Best EV Stocks

Rivian, Nikola Q2 Exceed Expectations: Irvine, California-based Rivian Automotive, Inc. reported second-quarter results that came in ahead of estimates amid its focus on cost cuts, efficiency gains and in-house software and technologies. The company maintained its full-year production guidance of 57,000 units. The loss-making company also reaffirmed its goal of turning to a modest gross profit at the year end.

Hydrogen fuel cell and electric truck maker Nikola Corp. also reported a smaller-than-expected loss and above-consensus revenue amid robust demand for its hydrogen trucks.

Lucid’s Biggest Shareholder Deepens Investment: Luxury EV maker Lucid Group, Inc. bucked the industry-wide stock downtrend this week after it reported above-consensus second-quarter revenue. More importantly, the company announced an incremental $1.5 billion cash injection from  Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, its biggest shareholder.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard, who upgraded the stock from Underweight to Neutral, said PIF’s cash infusion cements its commitment to Lucid and also extends cash runway until the fourth quarter of 2025. Some analysts, however, expressed disappointment over the company not lifting its 2024 production guidance.

Huawei Dips Toe Into EV Market: Chinese tech company Huawei marked an entry into the highly-competitive EV market with the launch of Stelato, its first EV, co-developed with BAIC Motor Corporation Limited , CnEVPost reported. Stelato S9, an all-electric sedan, was launched in the Chinese market market, and it comes in two variants, namely Max and Ultra , with a starting price of 399,800 yuan ($55,770). It was developed through Huawei’s Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance business.

Canoo In Legal Crosshairs: Lifestyle EV maker Canoo, Inc. was sued by a communications agency for breach of contract, according to Oklahoma’s KFOR. In the lawsuit, Saxum, which provides media and strategic communication services, alleged that Canoo failed to pay the monthly sum of $5,000 it agreed to in exchange for the service based on a contract negotiated in Aug. 2023. Saxum, which has since then discontinued the partnership, sued Canoo for $10,600 in damages.

The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF ended Friday’s session down 0.55% at $18.16 according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF fell 2.58%.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read Next:

• Tesla’s ‘Cool Factor’ Ebbing While These 2 Auto Brands Command More Loyalty Than Elon Musk’s EV Giant, Morgan Stanley Survey Finds

Here’s how the EV stocks fared this week:

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed doubts about Elon Musk‘s vision for Tesla Inc.’s future robotaxi fleet.

Khosrowshahi’s Concerns: Musk expects his company's robotaxi fleet to function like a combination of Airbnb and Uber. While a certain portion of the fleet will be owned by Tesla, individual customers can also add or subtract their vehicles to the robotaxi fleet at will. As for riders, they can summon a car using the Tesla App, Musk said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last month.

Khosrowshahi, however, is not sure if a car owner is going to want his car to be ridden in by a complete stranger.

Furthermore, Tesla drivers will also likely want their car at the time when ridership is high, creating trouble in meeting demand, he said on an episode of The Logan Bartlett Show published on Friday.

Building cars and operating a taxi fleet are “very very different” businesses, the Uber CEO noted. While running a fleet, the company has to match people with their rides, and price the rides economically while also addressing other concerns like people getting sick in a car, losing items, or getting involved in accidents, he said.

Possible Partnership: Khosrowshahi, however, is positive about a future partnership with Tesla.

“It’s taken us 15 years (to develop an efficient working system). It’s taken us tens of billions of dollars of capital, and we can provide that instantly to a partner,” Khosrowshahi said. “Hopefully, Tesla will be one of those partners, you never know.”

Autonomous cars in the future will function like food chains such as McDonald’s or Starbucks which have a direct channel to consumers and also use third-party channels for the complete utilization of their restaurants, the Uber CEO opined.

“If you want to drive utilization of that asset, you’re going to want to engage definitely in third-party and if you want to develop your own first-party channel as well, that can be true. It doesn’t have to be either/ or,” Khosrowshahi said.

Why It Matters: However, Musk said last month that Tesla will not give its vehicles to third parties for autonomous operations.

"There's an important clause we've put in every Tesla purchase, which is that the Tesla vehicles can only be used in the Tesla fleet. They cannot be used by a third party for autonomy," Musk then said.

Tesla is now expected to unveil its dedicated robotaxi product on Oct.10. The event was initially scheduled for Aug.8 but the company delayed it to make a few important changes aimed at improving the robotaxi and to give itself time to prepare a ‘couple of other things' to showcase at the event, Musk said in July.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read More:

• YouTuber Marques Brownlee Says He Will Not Recommend Lexus RZ 450e SUV Over Tesla Model Y Or Kia EV6: ‘One Of The Weirdest EVs I Have Seen In A While’

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

EV giant Tesla Inc. on Friday added Japanese automaker Nissan Motor to the list of companies who will “soon” gain access to its supercharger network in North America.

What Happened: Tesla, on its website, now has five names in the list of companies it intends to open access to its supercharging network “soon,” including Nissan, General Motors, Volvo, Polestar, and Mercedes-Benz.

Nissan is the latest addition to the list.

Layoffs Behind Delay? Ford Motor Co. and Rivian Automotive Inc. gained access to Tesla's supercharger network earlier this year, giving their EV drivers the option to charge at over 15,000 Tesla supercharger stalls across North America. 

While Volvo, GM, and Polestar were expected to follow, Tesla announced layoffs of at least 10% of its global workforce in April.

The layoffs impacted 500 members of the supercharging team. Tesla Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci also left the company, leaving the timeline for the opening of the supercharging network to more rivals in question.

However, during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed rumors of the death of its supercharger network as "greatly exaggerated."

"Our supercharger network is continuing to grow," Musk said.

The company continues to grow its supercharger network while keeping an eye on capital efficiency and the places they are deployed, Musk said while adding that it will deploy more "working" superchargers this year than the rest of the industry combined.

Tesla will invest $500 million in expanding the network this year, Musk said, reiterating his investment goal from May.

Why It Matters: Tesla, in its second-quarter earnings report, said that the number of supercharger connectors around the globe at the end of the second quarter was 59,596, 24% higher than the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The growth rate, however, has slowed significantly.

Superchargers grew only 3.5% from the end of the first quarter to the second, significantly lower than the quarter-on-quarter growth of 7.4% in the number of superchargers recorded through the fourth quarter of 2023.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read More:

• Tesla Offers 3 Years Of FSD, Premium Connectivity, And Free Supercharging For $5,000, But Is It Worth It?

Photo courtesy: Tesla

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.