F - Ford Motor Company
6.14 +0.02 (0.33%)
After hours: 6:57PM EDT
| Previous close | 6.19 |
| Open | 6.14 |
| Bid | 6.12 x 40000 |
| Ask | 6.13 x 36900 |
| Day's range | 6.09 - 6.20 |
| 52-week range | 3.96 - 10.56 |
| Volume | 55,303,090 |
| Avg. volume | 92,224,030 |
| Market cap | 24.339B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 1.30 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -0.78 |
| Earnings date | 28 Jul 2020 |
| Forward dividend & yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-dividend date | 29 Jan 2020 |
| 1y target est | 6.20 |
- Yahoo Finance
Bearish Tesla analyst explains why shares could surge to $2,070
In a bull case, Tesla shares could surge as high as $2070, says Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas — though his official call is still bearish with a target of $740.
- Bloomberg
Facebook Scorned by Advocacy Groups After Zuckerberg Meeting
(Bloomberg) -- Civil rights organizations criticized Facebook Inc. following a meeting with top executives Tuesday, claiming the company hasn’t taken seriously demands to better police its service from hate speech and misinformation.“Facebook approached our meeting today like it was nothing more than a PR exercise,” Jessica González, co-chief executive officer of Free Press, a non-profit media advocacy group, said in a statement following the meeting. “I’m deeply disappointed that Facebook still refuses to hold itself accountable to its users, its advertisers and society at large.”Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg also met with members of the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change, who have organized a boycott of the company’s advertising products in seeking to prompt change. The executives didn’t “commit to a timeline” to remove disinformation and hate speech, Gonzalez said, but instead “delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands.”“The meeting we just left was a disappointment,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, on a call with reporters.The forum, which lasted about an hour and was held over video conference, was intended to be a venue to discuss proposed solutions to making the Facebook platform less toxic, such as adding executives with civil rights experience to its top ranks and fact-checking political speech, among other changes.“Today we saw little and heard just about nothing,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who was in the meeting. “The company is functionally flawed.”Since the groups called for the boycott, hundreds of advertisers, including well-known brands such as Unilever NV, Verizon Communications Inc., and Coca-Cola Co., have announced plans to pull advertising from Facebook’s properties over criticism the company doesn’t do enough to police user content. As the boycott grew, Facebook approached the civil rights organizations about a meeting, though the groups refused to meet without Zuckerberg in attendance.“They want Facebook to be free of hate speech and so do we,” Facebook said in a statement following the meeting. The company pointed to efforts it has made in recent years, including a mention of an audit of its policies and practices and noting that it has spent billions of dollars building systems to police its service. “We know we will be judged by our actions not by our words and are grateful to these groups and many others for their continued engagement.”Facebook has defended its attempts to fight hate speech and voter suppression in emails and phone calls with advertisers, talking up the company’s automated systems which find and remove these kinds of posts automatically. The company has also highlighted a voter registration initiative through which it hopes to register 4 million voters before the 2020 election.Greenblatt described Facebook’s claim that it catches 89% of hate speech automatically as an unacceptable number. “The Ford Motor Co. can’t say that 89% of our fleet has seatbelts that work,” he said, adding that it would require a recall. “Maybe it’s time we recall Facebook Groups? Maybe it’s time we recall the News Feed?”Another topic of discussion on the call was the civil rights audit of Facebook’s policies, which the company first started in mid-2018. Facebook, which has said it will publish the full report Wednesday, previewed some of the results with the civil rights groups during the meeting. The audit was carried out by a third party, meaning the results are independent of Facebook, but also that they are less likely to lead to change, Robinson said.“What we get is recommendations that they end up not implementing,” he added. Facebook will make some changes to add “long term civil rights infrastructure” to the company, but Robinson said the details were still “unclear.”What was clear from the outset was that the two sides wouldn’t likely come to a resolution on Tuesday. In a post before the meeting started, Sandberg acknowledged that Facebook needs to do more to fight hate speech, but also said that the company is unlikely to implement all the recommendations from the civil rights audit.The civil rights groups said that their fight with Facebook is far from over. “I believe this campaign will continue to grow,” Greenblatt said. “It will get more global, it will get more intense until we get the answers that I think we are looking for.”(Updates with more details from meeting starting from sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Why Shares of Velodyne Lidar Acquirer, Graf Industrial, Are Trading Lower Today
Shares of Graf Industrial (NYSE: GRAF) were trading lower on Tuesday, amid a broader sell-off of stocks in companies focused on the future of transportation. Graf is a special-purpose acquisition company that last week announced a deal to merge with Velodyne Lidar, the largest maker of lidar sensors. Velodyne's lidar sensors are used by highly automated and prototype self-driving vehicles, as well as by some types of robots.
- Zacks
Motor Show Schedules Turn Topsy-Turvy, Launches Go Digital
Amid the coronavirus mayhem, which has caused motor show schedules go haywire, automakers are now aggressively switching from in-person reveals to online events.
- Zacks
Auto Stock Roundup: General Motors' $223M Contract, Ford-Disney Pact & More
While General Motors' (GM) defense arm secures contracts worth $223 million to manufacture infantry squad vehicle, Ford (F) ties up with Disney for the launch of its Bronco SUV.
- Bloomberg
Facebook Helps Explain Why ESG Investing Matters
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- If you’re not clear on Environmental, Social and Governance investing, you’re not alone. The Department of Labor appears to be just as confused. Luckily, Facebook Inc. may serve as an example to help clarify the burgeoning investing movement. The Labor Department issued a proposed rule recently that is being widely interpreted as a ban on ESG investing in retirement accounts. A news release said the rule “is intended to provide clear regulatory guideposts” for corporate pensions and 401(k) plans around ESG investing. What it’s actually doing, however, is sowing utter confusion. “Private employer-sponsored retirement plans are not vehicles for furthering social goals or policy objectives that are not in the financial interest of the plan,” Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said. But ESG has nothing to do with furthering social goals or policy objectives. By definition, ESG investing is strictly a financial endeavor, an attempt to improve the performance of portfolios by limiting their exposure to companies whose environmental, social or governance policies, or lack of them, are deemed risky. In that regard, it’s no different from striking a balance between stocks and bonds, investment-grade bonds and junk, stocks of large and small companies, or any number of decisions investors routinely make to manage risk and attempt to boost risk-adjusted returns. Consider Facebook. The social media behemoth has problems. A growing number of big corporate advertisers such as Coca-Cola Co., Starbucks Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are pulling their ads, fearing they might appear alongside hate speech, misinformation and other divisive content routinely posted on the platform. Facebook also faces a slew of antitrust inquiries from Congress, the Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general, as well as increasing bipartisan calls to remove legal protections that limit the company’s liability over content posted by users. Complaints about Facebook aren’t new. There have been widespread concerns about how the company handles user data since at least 2018, when news surfaced that Cambridge Analytica had obtained personal data of up to 87 million users. But Facebook has largely ignored its critics, mainly because co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg controls the company and doesn’t appear to share the concerns, at least not enough to do anything meaningful about them. So far, Zuckerberg has made mostly symbolic gestures, such as rolling out a new voter information hub and agreeing to meet with civil rights groups who organized the advertising boycott. Zuckerberg no doubt prefers to wield absolute power, but it’s a risky proposition for Facebook’s shareholders. There is growing evidence that companies with strong governance generally perform better and are less likely to fail than those with weak governance, which also makes them a less volatile and better-performing investment over time. The best ones have policies that hold management accountable and balance the competing demands of shareholders, creditors, workers, suppliers, customers and regulators. Suffice it to say, while Zuckerberg is on the throne, Facebook has few of those checks and balances.That’s a problem because Zuckerberg is the sole arbiter of what is and isn’t a hazard for Facebook, even if all indications are to the contrary. And clearly, not everyone at the company agrees with Zuckerberg’s sanguine outlook. Facebook employees recently staged a virtual walkout, and some senior figures publicly expressed their disapproval of Zuckerberg’s laissez-faire approach to policing content. If there were a greater diversity of opinion in Facebook’s decision-making process, perhaps it would have been more attune to the many threats it now faces. The risk posed by Facebook’s strongman governance is the “G” in ESG. Not surprisingly, Facebook receives poor marks for governance. Institutional Shareholder Services, a leading provider of ESG ratings, gives Facebook a 10 for governance, the highest risk score on its 10-point scale. And according to various governance metrics tracked by Bloomberg, such as percentage of independent directors and board size, governance has weakened at Facebook over the last decade. For investors worried about the governance risk around Facebook, reducing their exposure to the company, or even eliminating it entirely, is a reasonable financial move — one that is consistent with, in fact prescribed by, the Labor Department’s “longstanding position” that retirement plans “select investments and investment courses of action based on financial considerations relevant to the risk-adjusted economic value of a particular investment.” It’s also the essence of ESG.Scalia and the Labor Department appear to confuse ESG with what would more accurately be called socially responsible investing, or SRI, which attempts to align investors’ portfolios with their values by excluding companies and industries that conflict with those values, regardless of financial impact. It’s no less odd that the Labor Department wants to ban SRI. While I suspect SRI investors will pay a price for mixing their money and their values, there’s little evidence so far that SRI is a drag on portfolios or that it would undermine the “retirement security of American workers,” as Scalia seems to fear. So if 401(k) participants and pension beneficiaries want their money aligned with their conscience, it’s not clear why the Labor Department should stand in the way, particularly when it’s part of an administration that professes devotion to deregulation, small government and religious freedom. But at the very least, the Labor Department should clarify that it’s targeting SRI, not ESG.If the rule stands, one silver lining is that it might promote a clearer separation between ESG and SRI, which would help investors navigate the growing social investing landscape. Funds that blend the two are a particular source of confusion. The iShares ESG MSCI USA ETF, for example, both invests in stocks with strong ESG scores and excludes tobacco and weapons companies. The Labor Department’s proposed rule would presumably disqualify it from inclusion in retirement plans, and thereby discourage more funds from mixing ESG and SRI. However the rule shakes out, one thing should be clear: When ESG takes issue with companies such as Facebook, it’s about money, not values. If the Labor Department finds that confusing, imagine how ordinary investors must feel. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nir Kaissar is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the markets. He is the founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm. He has worked as a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell and a consultant at Ernst & Young. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Q2 Sales Plummet at GM and Ford as Coronavirus Takes a Toll
U.S. automakers have been squeezed this year by a combination of falling demand because of the weak economy and supply constraints because of coronavirus-related plant shutdowns. GM and its dealers delivered 492,489 vehicles in the U.S. during the second quarter: down 34% year over year. All four of its brands posted sales declines in excess of 30%, including a 41.4% drop at Cadillac, which was hurt by a soft luxury vehicle market.
- Zacks
Ford Sees 33.3% Fall in Q2 Sales Volume, Partners With Disney
While Ford's (F) retail sales decline 14.3% in Q2, it records the best retail share of 13.3% in five years, driven by the Built for America campaign and a winning portfolio of pickups, vans and SUVs.
- Bloomberg
Tesla's Overexcited Fans Should Cool Down a Little
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Back when Tesla Inc. delivered 95,000 cars to customers during the spring quarter of 2019, the stock price was languishing at about $235 and Elon Musk’s electric car company was valued at “only” $40 billion. Fast forward a year and the shares are now priced at more than $1,200. With a market capitalization of $224 billion, Tesla has surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s most valuable automaker.Yet in the second quarter of 2020, Tesla delivered 91,000 vehicles — about 5% fewer than the same period last year. That’s pretty underwhelming for a company whose fans view it as a fast-growing technology company in the mold of Amazon.com Inc., rather than a sluggish metal-bashing carmaker. So how is the massive recent jump in its market value justified?In fairness, it shows resilience to sell this many cars when the company’s main California plant was shut by the pandemic for much of the spring period. Doubtless, Tesla’s new Shanghai plant picked up the production slack, which suggests the expense and effort of getting that China factory up and running was worth it. The launch of Tesla’s new Model Y crossover vehicle will have helped. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. both saw their U.S. deliveries decline by a third in the same quarter. Nevertheless, Tesla’s stock market acolytes pushed the shares up another 8% on Thursday, adding $16.5 billion to the market value. Such exuberance is hard to understand. Musk’s company sold 7,650 more vehicles than analysts expected during the second quarter, and the stock price jump equates to about $2 million of added shareholder value for each of those additional sales. This seems a little excessive given that a Tesla Model 3 sells for less than $40,000, and the profit margin on those cars is pretty slim. The shareholder reaction makes even less sense when you consider that Tesla investors aren’t really meant to buying the stock because of the company’s current sales, which are less than 4% of Volkswagen AG’s. Rather, the investment case is a long-term one: that it will come to occupy a dominant position in clean transport and energy in the years ahead. That explains why the shares trade at 320 times its analyst-estimated earnings this year. Viewed through this lens, Tesla’s ability to shift a few thousand extra cars in recent weeks shouldn’t matter so much for the valuation. Investors’ tendency to overreact to Tesla news made more sense when its survival was open to doubt. A year ago it was laying off workers, U.S. sales were slowing and its retail strategy was confused. Senior staff kept heading for the exit. The company was burning through cash and ran pretty low on financial fuel. It had just $2.2 billion of cash in March 2019, compared with more than $8 billion now.But subsequent evidence that Tesla can sell cars for more than it costs to produce them has transformed the mood — and with it Tesla’s stock price.Instead of “killing” off Tesla, the tepid electric offerings of established carmakers such as Audi and Mercedes have only underscored the quality of their rival’s battery and powertrain technology (the same can’t be said of Tesla’s build quality). Volkswagen’s software problems with its forthcoming ID.3 electric vehicle suggest catching Tesla won’t be straightforward, even with the Germans’ vast resources.Tesla’s stratospheric valuation appears to have become self-reinforcing. Should it require more money to fund its roughly $9 billion of capital expenditure over the next three years, it can raise it from shareholders without worrying about diluting them too much.Similarly, holders of more than $4 billion of convertible bonds that Tesla issued to fund its expansion should be happy to convert them into stock, rather than demand cash repayment, taking some of the pressure off the company and its balance sheet. Still, Tesla’s valuation remains impossible to justify by any standard metrics. Analysts’ average price target is more than 40% below the current level. Even Musk has suggested that the share price, which has almost trebled since the start of 2020, is too high — although, as with his taunting of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and his comments about “fascist” lockdowns, it’s usually better to tune out what Musk says and focus on his actions instead. The skeptics might have more faith in Tesla’s new position as the leader of the automaker pack when Musk stops his provocations and his shareholders stop getting giddy over modest good news.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Motley Fool
Why Shares of Graf Industrial Are Soaring Today
Shares of Graf Industrial (NYSE: GRAF) gained 20% on Thursday after the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) announced plans to merge with a maker of sensors for self-driving vehicles. The deal would move its merger partner, Velodyne Lidar, onto public markets, joining a host of other companies to use SPACs to go public in recent months. Velodyne Lidar said Thursday it would combine with Graf Industrial to create a company with a pro forma market capitalization of $1.8 billion.
- Yahoo Finance
'It's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent': analyst
Here's why Tesla's stock continues to be on fire.
- Motley Fool
Disney Finds New Avenue for Revenue in Partnership With Ford
Entertainment giant Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) has been suffering for the past few months while its parks and experiences were closed, and only a few have recently reopened. Its main revenue driver during the COVID-19 pandemic has been its streaming services, and it's been finding innovative ways to make them more profitable, such as releasing new films straight to streaming. A new partnership with the Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is another path to bringing in much-needed cash.
- Bloomberg
Velodyne Lidar to Go Public In Merger With Blank-Check Firm Graf
(Bloomberg) -- Velodyne Lidar Inc., a maker of sensors for self-driving vehicles backed by Ford Motor Co., has agreed to merge with blank-check company Graf Industrial Corp., according to a statement Thursday.The market value of the combined company will be about $1.8 billion, according to the statement, which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. New institutional investors and existing Graf Industrial shareholders have committed $150 million to fund the transaction.Velodyne backers including Ford, Baidu Inc., Nikon Corp. and Hyundai Mobis will retain an 80% stake in the combined company. The San Jose-based company will have about $200 million in cash on its balance sheet, and David Hall, Velodyne’s founder, will become executive chairman. Velodyne Chief Executive Officer Anand Gopalan will continue to lead the company.Velodyne creates radar-like systems for self-driving vehicles that use lasers to generate three-dimensional images of a surrounding environment. Its technology is used by carmakers including Mercedes-Benz and Ford, according to its website.Graf Industrial, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, raised $225 million in an initial public offering in 2018.Merging with a SPAC has become a popular way for companies to go public as the coronavirus pandemic roils the markets, as an alternative to an initial public offering or direct listing. Online gambling company DraftKings Inc., potato chip maker Utz Quality Foods and fitness company F45 Training Holdings Inc. also struck deals with SPACS in recent months.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Business Wire
Ford Posts Best Retail Share In Five Years – Driven by Ford’s ‘Built for America’ Program And Strong Share Gains Coming From Pickups, Vans, Explorer and Mustang
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) today reported its second quarter 2020 U.S. sales results. Click here or visit media.ford.com to view the news release.
- Business Wire
Ford and Disney Gear Up to Reveal All-New Ford Bronco Family, Across ABC, ESPN, National Geographic and Hulu
Ford Motor Company will reveal the all-new Ford Bronco 4x4 family on Monday, July 13 across Disney’s Media Networks – marking the first-ever, prime-time product reveal roadblock across Disney’s broadcast, cable, digital and streaming properties, including ABC, ESPN, National Geographic and Hulu.
- Yahoo Finance
Despite growing ad boycott, Facebook is too big for many advertisers to ignore
Despite a growing advertising boycott, many companies can't ignore Facebook.
- Bloomberg
Microsoft Pauses Facebook, Instagram Advertising Spending
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. has paused global advertising spending on Facebook Inc. and Instagram because of concerns about ads appearing next to inappropriate content, according to a person familiar with the matter.The software giant spent an estimated $116 million in Facebook advertising in 2019, and was the company’s third-largest advertiser last year, according to data from Pathmatics. Microsoft initially halted spending on the sites in the U.S. in May and has now expanded that globally, said the person, who didn’t want to be named discussing internal corporate matters. Axios earlier reported the move, citing comments from Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela in an internal Microsoft message board.Capossela did not immediately return an email asking for comment.A list of companies pulling back spending on Facebook properties is lengthening almost by the minute, part of an exodus aimed at pushing the social network and its peers to limit hate speech and posts that divide and misinform. Starbucks Corp. and Diageo Plc, Ford Motor Co. and HP Inc. are among those who said they are stopping ads on social networks for now.Microsoft’s concerns relate purely to the placement of ads next to certain content and aren’t a statement about Facebook’s policies, the person said.The company has spoken with Facebook and Instagram executives on what steps will be needed to resume spending and expects the advertising halt to be in effect through August.Although it didn’t disclose it publicly at the time, Microsoft was among companies that pulled ads from YouTube in February 2019 amid concerns about child pornography, the person said.(Updates with timing in the sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
U.S.-China Feud Gets Nasty With Red Tape as Stealth Weapon
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and China are moving beyond bellicose trade threats to exchanging regulatory punches that threaten a wide range of industries including technology, energy and air travel.The two countries have blacklisted each other’s companies, barred flights and expelled journalists. The unfolding skirmish is starting to make companies nervous the trading landscape could shift out from under them.“There are many industries where U.S. companies have made long-term bets on China’s future because the market is so promising and so big,” said Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s head of international affairs. Now, they’re “recognizing the risk.”China will look to avoid measures that could backfire, said Shi Yinhong, an adviser to the nation’s cabinet and a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. Any sanctions on U.S. companies would be a “last resort” because China “is in desperate need of foreign investment from rich countries for both economic and political reasons.”Nevertheless, pressure is only expected to intensify ahead of the U.S. elections in November, as President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden joust over who will take a tougher line on China.Trump has blamed China for covering up the coronavirus pandemic he has mocked as “Kung Flu,” accused Beijing of “illicit espionage to steal our industrial secrets” and threatened the U.S. could pursue a “complete decoupling” from the country. Biden, likewise, has described President Xi Jinping as a thug, labeled mass detention of Uighur Muslims as unconscionable and accused China of predatory trade practices.And on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats have found rare unity in their opposition to China, with lawmakers eager to take action against Beijing for its handling of Covid-19, forced technology transfers, human rights abuses and its tightening grip on Hong Kong.“China is going to be a punching bag in the campaign,” said Capital Alpha Partners’ Byron Callan. “But China is a punching bag that can punch back.”China has repeatedly rejected U.S. accusations over its handling of the pandemic, Uighurs, Hong Kong and trade, and it has fired back at the Trump administration for undermining global cooperation and seeking to start a “new cold war.” Foreign Minister Wang Yi last month said China had no interest in replacing the U.S. as a hegemonic power, while adding that the U.S. should give up its “wishful thinking” of changing the country.Both sides have already taken a series of regulatory moves aimed at protecting market share.The U.S. is citing security concerns in blocking China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest mobile operator, from entering the U.S. market. It’s culling Chinese-made drones from government fleets and discouraging the deployment of Chinese transformers on the power grid. The Trump administration has also tried to constrain the global reach of China’s Huawei Technologies Co., the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer.Meanwhile, China prevented U.S. airline flights into the country for more than two months and, after the U.S. imposed visa restrictions on Chinese journalists, it expelled American journalists. It has stepped up its scrutiny of U.S. companies, with China’s state news agency casting one probe as a warning to the White House. China also has long made it difficult for U.S. telecommunications companies to enter its market, requiring overseas operators to co-invest with local firms and requiring authorization by the central government.One of the most combustible flash points has been the Trump administration’s campaign to contain Huawei by seeking to limit the company’s business in the U.S. and push allies to shun its gear in their networks.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission moved to block devices made by Huawei and ZTE Corp. from being used in U.S. networks. And the Commerce Department has placed Huawei on blacklists aimed at preventing the Chinese company from using U.S. technology for the chips that power its network gear, including tech from suppliers Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc.After suppliers found work-arounds, Commerce in May tightened rules to bar any chipmaker using American equipment from selling to Huawei without U.S. approval. The step could constrain virtually the entire contract chipmaking industry, which uses equipment from U.S. vendors such as Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp. in wafer fabrication plants.The curbs also threaten to cripple Huawei. Although the company can buy off-the-shelf or commodity mobile chips from a third party such as Samsung Electronics Co. or MediaTek Inc., going that route would force it to make costly compromises on performance in basic products.Huawei was on a list the Pentagon unveiled last week of companies it says are owned or controlled by China’s military, opening them to increased scrutiny. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing accused the Trump administration of “violating the very market economy principle the U.S. champions.”“We are strongly opposed to this,” the foreign ministry said Sunday of the Pentagon’s designation. “China urges the U.S. to stop suppressing Chinese companies without reason and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies to operate normally in the U.S.”After the new restrictions, the editor of the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper tweeted that China would retaliate using an “unreliable entities list” that it first threatened at the height of the trade war last year. Although China didn’t identify companies on the list, the Global Times has cited a source close to the Chinese government as saying U.S. bellwethers such as Apple Inc. and Qualcomm could be targeted.The fallout could extend to companies heavily reliant on Chinese supply chains, as well consumer-facing brands eager to expand sales in Asia. Boeing Co., which recorded $5.7 billion of revenue from China in 2019, and Tesla Inc., the biggest U.S. carmaker operating independently in China, are among companies most exposed if relations sour further.“We’re playing in a much wider field now,” said Jim Lucier, managing director of research firm Capital Alpha Partners. “We’re not simply talking about ‘you tariff me’ and ‘I tariff you.’ The playing field is virtually unlimited.”Planes and AutomobilesU.S. automakers have also been singed. In June, China fined Ford Motor Co.’s main joint venture in the country for antitrust violations, saying Changan Ford Automobile Co. had restricted retailers’ sale prices since 2013.Aviation has been another source of tension, as both countries squabble over access to their skies. China’s decision to limit U.S. airlines operations to those services scheduled as of March 12 hurt carriers such as United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc, and American Airlines Group Inc. that had suspended passenger flights to and from China because of the coronavirus pandemic.The U.S. responded earlier this month by initially threatening to ban all flights from China, then relenting to allow two flights weekly once Chinese officials eased their restrictions. Now, in what appears to be a staged de-escalation, China gave U.S. passenger carriers permission to operate four weekly flights to the country and earlier this month, the Trump administration matched the move by also authorizing four flights from Chinese airlines.It’s happening outside of aviation too. Consider the U.S. government’s decision to seize a half-ton, Chinese-made electrical transformer when it arrived at an American port last year and divert the gear to a national lab instead of the Colorado substation where it was supposed to be deployed. That move -- and a May executive order from Trump authorizing the blockade of electric grid gear supplied by “foreign adversaries” of the U.S. in the name of national security -- have already sent shock waves through the power sector.The effect has been to dissuade American utilities from buying Chinese equipment to replace aging components in the nation’s electrical grid, said Jim Cai, the U.S. representative for Jiangsu Huapeng Transformer Co., the company whose delivery was seized. Although Cai said the firm has supplied parts to private utilities and government-run grid operators in the U.S. for nearly 15 years without security complaints, at least one American utility has since canceled a transformer award to the company, Cai said.Trump’s directive is tied to a broader effort to bring more manufacturing to the U.S. from China. “This is a part of the administration’s efforts to impair China’s supply chains into the United States,” said former White House adviser Mike McKenna.Escalating tensions could jeopardize the U.S. economic recovery as well as China’s trade commitment to buy $200 billion in American goods and services over the next two years. The country’s purchase of U.S. goods increased last month as the economy continued its recovery from the coronavirus shutdowns, but imports are still far behind the pace needed to meet the terms of the phase one trade deal, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from China’s Customs Administration.U.S.-China struggles also may factor into the November presidential election. Former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton alleges in a new book that Trump asked Xi to help him win re-election by buying more farm products -- a claim the White House has dismissed as untrue.“I don’t expect one single blow to send this relationship in a tailspin,” the chamber’s Brilliant said. “Each side will calibrate their reactions in a way that will not tip the scales too far.”Take the recent spat over media access. After the U.S. designated five Chinese media companies as “foreign missions,” China revoked press credentials for three Wall Street Journal staff members over an article with a headline describing China as the “real sick man of Asia.”Then the Trump administration ordered Chinese state-owned news outlets to slash staff working in the U.S. Beijing responded in March by effectively expelling more than a dozen U.S. journalists working in China.Both the U.S. and China have ample opportunities to ratchet up regulatory pressure. A bill passed by the Senate last month could prompt the delisting of Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges if American officials aren’t allowed to review their financial audits.And last week, as the U.S. State Department imposed visa bans on Chinese Communist Party officials accused of infringing the freedom of Hong Kong citizens, a senior official made clear the move was just an opening salvo in a campaign to force Beijing to back off new restrictions on the city.China, similarly, can slow licensing decisions and regulatory approvals, launch investigations under its anti-monopoly law and squeeze financial firms that want to do business in the country. For instance, the country could rescind pledges to let U.S. financial firms take controlling stakes in Chinese investment banking joint ventures, according to a Cowen analyst.“China will not make any significant compromise and will retaliate whenever and wherever possible,” said Shi, the Renmin University professor.Companies are still lured to China and its massive local market -- and tensions with the U.S. don’t overcome the Asian superpower’s appeal. Just one-fifth of companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in China late last year said they had moved or were considering moving some operations outside of the country, part of a three-year downward trend.But the coronavirus pandemic has subsequently pushed more companies to reckon with the risks of relying too heavily on any single country for their supply chains, amid existing concerns about forced technology transfers, cost and rising tensions that could damp investment in China.China is no longer the lowest-cost manufacturer, and companies are more reluctant to invest there, said James Lewis, director of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.“Everyone would like to be in the China market -- everyone wants it to be like 2010 -- but things are changing.”(Updates with trade data in 28th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Ford (F) Unveils Revamped F-150 With Hybrid V6 Powertrain
Ford's (F) all-new F-150, which is now in its 14th generation, will deliver more payload and towing capability, torque, horsepower and comfort.
- Bloomberg
Nikola Sells $5,000 Reservations for Truck With No Prototype
(Bloomberg) -- Even in the innovative world of electric vehicles, it’s an unusual proposition: Plunk down as much as $5,000 now to reserve the right in a few years to buy a battery-powered truck, before seeing a prototype or manufacturing plan to assure it’ll ever be built.That’s what Nikola Corp., the Phoenix-based company whose sudden stock surge has captured the attention of investors, is asking customers to do starting Monday. The reservations, which are refundable, take a page from Tesla Inc.’s playbook, but they require would-be vehicle buyers to take an even bigger leap of faith than Elon Musk ever did.Nikola founder Trevor Milton has said he hopes the truck, called the Badger, will one day rival Ford Motor Co.’s F-150, which for 43 years has been America’s best-selling pickup. Nikola went public on June 4 through a reverse merger, and the stock more than doubled on June 8 after he tweeted that Nikola would start taking reservations on June 29 for what he called “the most bad a-- zero emission truck.”Nikola told prospective investors before going public that its focus was on producing a different type of vehicle -- big rig semi trucks starting with a model called the Tre. In a March filing, the company said it didn’t expect to draw up plans for the Badger pickup unless an established manufacturer agreed to make it.Nikola will have more details to share this summer about its Badger manufacturing partnership, Colleen Robar, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an email. Investors haven’t registered any concerns about Nikola’s unorthodox approach to vehicle sales. The shares closed Friday at $63.55, up 87% since their listing, and rose as much as 7.4% shortly after the start of regular trading Monday. At $22.9 billion, Nikola’s market capitalization at the close Friday was just short of the $23.5 billion valuation for Ford, which unveiled its next-generation F-150 pickup last week.Read more: Nikola Founder Has $7.4 Billion Fortune on Free Truck OrdersTesla has accepted reservations for models before the company started production, including for this year’s new Model Y SUV. But customers at least had a prototype to look at, and Musk has now marketed five different vehicles. Nikola doesn’t expect to start delivering its first semi truck to customers until next year. It has a joint venture with CNH Industrial NV, whose Iveco unit has been building big rigs for decades, to manufacture the Tre in Germany.Nikola’s plan to work with manufacturing partners is a contrast with Tesla, which went through what Musk repeatedly referred to as “production hell” trying to mass-produce the Model 3 with its own factory. Cowen & Co. analyst Jeffery Osborne said in a June 17 report that Nikola’s outsourcing strategy could mitigate risk.So far, Nikola has shared only computer renderings of the Badger, and has said it will cost between $60,000 and $90,000. Milton predicts it’ll be a hit. “Most likely it’ll be sold out, so be ready and gets yours reserved,” he tweeted on June 15.Interested buyers have to pay close attention to Milton on social media, where details about the Badger come out in drips and drabs. Milton tweeted on June 8 that he expects deliveries of the Badger to begin in 2022, but exact details would be laid out in a partnership announcement before an event he called nikolaworld2020.Eleven days later, he announced that Nikola World would take place in December -- about five months after Nikola starts taking reservations for the Badger. It will be unveiled on Dec. 4.(Updates with shares trading in the sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Auto Stock Roundup: CMI-NPROXX JV, GT-Lordstown Motors Alliance & More
While Cummins (CMI) teams up with NPROXX for hydrogen storage tanks, Goodyear Tire (GT) and Lordstown Motors partner for tires and services.
- Zacks
US Auto Sector Braces for Upheaval on California's EV Target
While there is much opposition by the industry groups for California's zero-emissions truck mandate, there are a number of automakers who have been taking the EV plans seriously.
- Bloomberg
Automakers Split in Fight Over Trump’s Fuel Economy Rules
(Bloomberg) -- Four automakers backing a California effort to curb tailpipe emissions will break with some big rivals in the legal battle over the Trump administration’s relaxation of fuel efficiency standards.Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and BMW AG will file a joint motion on Monday with a Washington, D.C., appeals court to get involved in litigation challenging the Trump administration’s March rule that weakened future U.S. fuel efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles, according to Ford.The action separates the companies from the auto industry’s primary trade association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. That group in late May threw its support behind the Trump administration by intervening in support of the U.S. in a legal challenge brought by a libertarian organization that said the weaker federal rules were still too strict. The trade group represents nearly every major automaker, including General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Toyota Motor Corp.Bob Holycross, Ford’s vice president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering, said the legal filing doesn’t take a position on the rules themselves or the challenges they face, but instead aims to preserve the companies’ ability to have a say in potential replacement standards should courts find the current policy needs to change.Regardless of how the litigation plays out, “our goal and our interest is coalescing around the framework that we’ve outlined with California,” Holycross said.The move highlights the widening chasm between carmakers over Trump’s rule mandating fuel efficiency gains of roughly 1.5% annually starting in 2021, a major reduction from the 5% annual gains demanded by rules set during the Obama administration.Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW in July agreed to voluntarily meet tailpipe standards set by California clean air regulators that were more stringent than the Trump administration’s nationwide standards being finalized at the time. President Donald Trump lashed out against the pacts on Twitter, and the Justice Department opened an antitrust probe into deals that was dropped in February.Holycross said the legal action reflects Ford’s desire to continue toward its voluntary emissions pact with California, which he said provides the company with greater regulatory certainty and is more supportive of electric vehicles than the federal rules.The automakers will file to intervene in a lawsuit by power companies, including Calpine Corp. and Consolidated Edison Inc., in May seeking a review of the federal fuel efficiency rule, one of several similar actions filed against the federal standards after they were finalized in late March.California and nearly two dozen other states and environmental advocacy groups have filed separate suits to stop the Trump administration from easing the requirements. Ford’s filing with the other carmakers doesn’t endorse the state’s argument.As those cases are underway, the automakers are looking to protect their interests, as a final decision calling for a rule review would affect the fate of the auto industry. The industry is already under stress from the U.S. economic shutdown, the fuel costs borne by Americans and pollution levels in the country.(Updates with latest filing plan in second paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
2020 J.D. Power Quality Scorecard Out: Who Wins, Who Loses?
While Dodge and Kia hold the top positions in the influential 2020 J.D. Power Quality Survey, Tesla takes the last spot.
- Yahoo Finance
Ford COO: New F-150 pickup truck essential to carmaker's future
Ford looks for a U-turn in its financials with the introduction of the newly redesigned F-150.
