Capital markets have voted. Technology companies are in, and Texas oil and gas companies are out. Thats not necessarily all bad news for Texas, which has been courting companies like Tesla and Amazon to set up shop here, but with mixed results. News that electric automaker Teslas market capitalization has surpassed that of ExxonMobil reflects more than questionable premises about the growth potential of electric cars and the sunsetting of the gasoline engine. It reflects investors hopes and fears for the future. In a world where longstanding lifestyles were abandoned overnight in the shadow of a global pandemic, financial bets on companies proficient in self-transformation and technological innovation seem prudent. ExxonMobils pitch that it has staying power when incumbent oil and gas infrastructure takes years to revamp is simply not resonating with investors.

The sudden love affair with Tesla stock is partly linked to new potential for growth. Since it opened its Shanghai, China giga factory, analysts forecast increasing cash flow for the firm, which in March captured 30 percent of the crowded Chinese electric vehicle market amid depressed demand due to COVID-19. Teslas market capitalization has now surpassed $300 billion, up 175,000 percent since 2010. By contrast, ExxonMobils market capitalization has now fallen to around $185 billion, down from $350 billion a decade ago.

But Teslas attractions go beyond its improving financial outlook. Investors are betting on its expansive innovation potential. Not only has Tesla Energy installed the worlds largest lithium-ion battery to mitigate wind generation intermittency in South Australia, it has provided small-scale, household solutions to reduce the regions frequent brownouts. The company offers a load-balancing system in which solar panels are matched with in-home battery storage and smart inverters to bolster the grid when electricity demand peaks, creating a virtual power plant. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has alluded to the possibility of deploying a similar model with vehicle batteries, allowing Tesla owners to use their cars as backup power sources or even sell their battery storage back to the grid.

Tesla has weighed in on a policy debate in Texas over whether the state should loosen restrictions so electricity distribution companies can own storage to buttress operations, but regulatory disputes over who can own and operate Tesla battery systems in the state are ongoing. Texas, with its weather and other load challenges, would do well to follow Teslas advice to loosen who can own battery systemswhile protecting consumers and competitive markets for local energy generatorsso benefits are shared from the kind of forward-looking innovation the state is well known for.

For investors, Teslas innovation goes beyond cars and energy. It has also developed a giant HEPA filter, installed in Model S and Model X vehicles, which Tesla claims stops 99.97 percent of particles 0.3 micrometers or larger from entering the vehicle. Amid endemic pollution in major cities and growing questions about airborne COVID-19 transmission, its no wonder that Teslas Bioweapon Defense Mode is a hit.

Then there is Californias new Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which requires truck manufacturers to sell an annually increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks in the state over the next two decades. With its light-duty Cybertruck and heavy-duty Semi model due for release in 2021, Tesla is well positioned to supply the new market. The Cybertruck already has over 650,000 pre-orders, and Austin is knee-deep in competition with Tulsa, Okla., to house a new giga-factory for its production. Meanwhile, Teslas vehicle software is growing ever closer to facilitating full, self-driving autonomy.

The point is that Tesla is no longer just a car company. It is a technology company creating products with cross-industrial applications fit to solve some of the societys most pressing challenges. Ditto Amazon, which is an increasingly important bridge between many Americans and essential household supplies. At $1.65 trillion, Amazons capitalization is now 160 times higher than ExxonMobils as the marketplace and logistics company looks to new vertical integration opportunities including autonomous delivery vehicles.

Research and development spending made up 32.5 and 35.8 percent respectively of Teslas and Amazons total operating expenses in 2019, according to Bloomberg News. By contrast, ExxonMobils R&D budget was a paltry 8.7 percent of its operating expenses based on our calculations from Bloomberg data. Unlike its European peers who are actively pivoting to new energy businesses, ExxonMobils admirable R&D in algae biofuel and carbon sequestration has brought neither technology to scale. Rather, ExxonMobils notable technology and process improvement gains focus on the companys here and now oil opportunities in places like West Texas and Guyana, and thereby lack the visionary pizazz and breadth of wider applicability that draw investors to Tesla.

ExxonMobil continues to try to mobilize its base of investors around the idea that the company is well positioned with a strong balance sheet, promising legacy assets and topnotch engineering knowhow to both weather the current oil downturn and meet rebounding oil demand when the economy recovers. But sell-side analysts say current oil prices are too low for ExxonMobil to generate sufficient cash flow to cover its dividends without cutting spending, discouraging bargain hunters from bottom-picking the companys stock.

ExxonMobils plight is a cautionary tale for Texas industry and Houston as the energy capital. Though other companies like Hess, ConocoPhillips and Chevron are garnering some positive investor attention based on cash outlooks, the heady days when Texas shale was lauded as a growth business are fading, at least for now. The solution to investor apathy might not just be cutting costs, but a reemphasis on transformative technological innovations.

Myers Jaffe is author of the forthcoming book Energys Digital Future: Harnessing Innovation for American Resilience and National Security. Schreiber is a summer intern at the Council on Foreign Relations and an undergraduate student at Rice University.

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Opinion: Tesla's rise is a message to big oil in Texas it's time to transform - Houston Chronicle

There's something intrinsically special about firsts. First impressions, first dates, first choicesand let's not forget about first cars. For Tesla, its very first automobile was none other than its Roadster, a car which gave the startup a jump start in becoming the world's most valuable automaker. And while the first example built is technically no longer of this world, you can now buy the second most important example: the last one ever built.

A used car listing in Switzerland is advertising the final-built Tesla Roadster for sale at a whopping $1.47 million. With just 124 miles on the odometer, this is perhaps one of the most well-preserved specimens still around. According to the ad, the car was also never registered and instead spent its life on tire pillows atop marble flooring, meaning that the new owner could technically be the car's first.

The car is also embellished with a full carbon package and special "2500" badging signifying its importance. It's also worth noting that the owner kept the vehicle at a proper charge level, so the worry of a bricked battery can be put to rest. Speaking of the battery, the visible portion of the pack also bears the signatures of many notable Tesla team members in white marker.

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You'll Need $1.5M to Own the Last Tesla Roadster Ever Built - The Drive

Lawmakers in Texas just gave Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk another incentive to locate its next factory there.

Commissioners in Travis County, home to Austin and the possible next Tesla factory, approved Tuesday property tax breaks worth at least $14.7 million and potentially more over 10 years. The incentives are on top of $46.6 million in property tax abatement that the Del Valle School District Board approved earlier this month.

News of the approval pushed Tesla shares 3.5% higher in after-hours trading.

The agreement, which the Austin Statesman first reported, is the latest carrot dangled in front of Tesla in hopes of landing the automakers next factory, which is slated to assemble the all-electric Cybertruck and the Model Y for the East Coast market.

There are, of course, conditions to such an arrangement.

Under terms of the agreement with Travis County, Tesla must invest $1.1 billion in the new factory within the first five years. In exchange, Travis County will rebate 70% of the property taxes Tesla will pay. Once Teslas investment in the factory eclipses that $1.1 billion mark, the property taxes rebates will increase to 75%. Any investments in the factory beyond $2 billion, will give Tesla 80% in property tax rebates.

Travis County has estimated that a $1.1 billion investment by Tesla would generated $8.8 million in new tax revenue over a 10-year period, a figure that takes into account the property tax rebates.

If Tesla fails to hit the investment goal or if its falls 75% short of its jobs requirement in any year, the company wont receive any property tax relief. The county will also have the ability to recoup tax rebates if Tesla breaches its contract.

The incentives packages has been approved quickly, illustrating the thirst by local governments to find ways to create new jobs, a point that Tesla is keenly aware of. The company has pointed to unemployment statistics in Travis County as part of its presentation, a figure that popped to more than 12% in April from 2.2% a year earlier.

Musk tweeted in March that the company was scouting locations to build a new U.S. gigafactory that will produce the Cybertruck and Model Y crossover.

Initially, Tesla was eyeing Nashville, but the focus quickly turned to a location east of Austin as well as land in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lawmakers in Oklahoma have offered up their own incentives package, although details of what the state is offering has not been made public.

Tesla has promised Texas officials it will employ at least 5,000 people. About 25 of those workers are categorized as qualifying jobs and would be paid a minimum of $74,050, while the remaining would be middle income jobs with an annual salary of $47,147.

If the process to approve Teslas factories in Nevada and New York are any guide, state incentives are also likely. The company could, for instance, seek a taxpayer-funded grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund.There are other beneficial rewards Texas could offer Tesla such as allowing the automaker to sell directly to consumers, a method that is prohibited in the state.

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Tesla lands another tax break to locate Cybertruck factory in Texas - TechCrunch

The Tesla Model S is one of the quickest production vehicles ever produced, and it's getting quicker on a regular basis. However, it won't even touch the upcoming Tesla Roadster in terms of power and acceleration. According to Tesla, the Roadster will rocket from zero to 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds, though knowing how Tesla operates, this number may be exceeded in the production model, especially if there are really available air thrusters.

We've seen videos of the Roadster racing to 60 mph, but what might it look like if the all-electric supercar were to race from a stop all the way to its top speed of 250 mph? Apparently, it may be able to do this in a mere 20 seconds. Concept artistJordi Pauuses CGI to give us a glimpse of what's to come.

Sadly, we've been waiting for the next-gen Tesla Roadster to come to market for some time. It seems we'll be waiting much longer since Tesla just released the Model Y and is prioritizing its Semi and Cybertruck. However, the automaker has a tendency to unveil products long before they come to market.

Unlike some other companies, Tesla has working prototypes of its future vehicles and has even allowed people to ride in them at the official unveiling ceremonies. Not to mention, these vehicles like the upcoming Roadster, Cybertruck, and Semi are out on the road, traveling around the country, charging, and making special appearances from time to time.

Since we don't get to see the "real" Tesla Roadster very often, people have taken to creating simulations. In similar fashion, amateur copies of the Tesla Cybertruck, as well as all sorts of renderings and simulations have flooded the internet. Check out this recent Roadster simulation and then leave us a comment below.

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Watch The Tesla Roadster Rocket To 250 MPH In This Visualization - InsideEVs

TOKYO -- Nidec, the world's largest motor maker, is aiming for a quick return to record profits as it bets on dramatic growth in electric vehicle demand in China.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2020, the Kyoto-based company reported a 1.7% rise in operating profit from a year before to 28.1 billion yen ($261.93 million), even as sales fell 6.6% to 336.8 billion yen. The company said it has redoubledefforts for cost reduction.

Sales of automotive motors during the April-June quarter fell by half, as automakers around the world shut down production amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nidec says, however, that it is looking beyond COVID-19and is aggressively moving into new areas, as sales of traditional equipment have slumped.

"The macroeconomic environment remains challenging,"Nidec Chairman and CEO Shigenobu Nagamori said Tuesday at a newsconference."Auto production has stopped. But the trend toward electrification hasn't. More and more companies want to produce EVs."

Nagamori added that the company has weathered challenging times before. "We reported a record profit the year after the Lehman crisis," he said."We have a similar ambition in the wake of the coronavirus crisis."

Nidec recently decided to build a new research and development facility in China for EV drive motors even as many U.S. companies move investment away from China.

The Japanese company is betting that EVs will overtake gasoline vehicles in terms of cost and convenience in around five years, and is tryingto position itself for the new era.

"We are like Tesla in the automobile motor business," Nagamori said. Noting that Tesla recently overtook Toyota Motorto become the world's most valuable automaker by market capitalization, he asked rhetorically why this had happened."Because investors are anticipatinga shift to EVs. We need to prepare for a dramatic shift."

But Nagamori grumbled about Nidec's share price, which has been moving sideways in the past couple of years. Nidec is officially predicting a 2% dip in sales to1.5 trillion yen for the year ending March 2021, but stands by its ambition of reaching 2 trillion yen in the current fiscal year.

Nidec says that its drive motors for EVs have been adopted by 15 automakers worldwide, including more than 10 in China. But the company stressesthat competition remains intense.

"Cost competition will continue for a while," saidJun Seki, Nidec president and chief operating officer. "We will reduce the cost of our products by 30%, added the former Nissan executive."We will reduce costs until rivals can no longer compete with us."

The coronavirus has created new demand for its motors, Nidec said. As more people work from home, sales of laptopcomputers soared, boosting demand for the company'smotor fans to cool computer microprocessors.

Demand for micro fans also got a boost from electric face masks with built-in fans.

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Nidec sees itself as the Tesla of electric vehicle motors - Nikkei Asian Review

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Teslas earnings are due out on Wednesday, July 22 after the market closes. It will be must-see TV for Wall Street denizens.

As the date approaches, analysts are refining numbers and hitting the refresh button on their short-term stock views. Right now, the analysis centers on risk versus reward,

Citigroup analyst Itay Michaeli is still cautious. He rates shares the equivalent of Sell, but he did increase his price target from $246 to $450 a share. Thats well below where Tesla stock trades, so he qualifies as a Tesla bear.

Michaeli, in a Wednesday research report, challenged some of the bull-case tenets such as the idea that Tesla is experiencing seemingly unlimited demand thats decoupled from autos, that traditional and emerging competitors stand little chance, that [Teslas self driving] is industry leading and that Tesla should be valued versus large Tech names.

He calls the stock high risk as the big day nears.

Baird analyst Ben Kallo sounds cautious as well, suggesting investors take some profits in a Friday research note. Risk/Reward temporarily skewed negatively, wrote Kallo. He believes Tesla will produce a second-quarter profit, something no one expected weeks ago, but added if the company doesnt, it will be a negative catalyst for the stock, given the intense discussion about Teslas inclusion in the S&P 500 index lately.

A profit under generally accepted accounting principles for the second quarter would all but ensure Teslas inclusion in the S&P 500. Bulls believe that will create more stock buying and gains in the price. There is a range of opinion on how much impact the inclusion would have, and how long it will last.

We do think the stock is pricing in inclusion at current levels as funds position ahead of a rebalancing, said Kallo.

Kallo, a longtime bull, now rates shares the equivalent of Hold and has a $984 price target for the stock. He increased his target price from $700 to $984 Friday.

Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy also increased his price target Thursday, from $700 to $1,400. He still rates Tesla at Hold despite the 100% target-price increase.

Levy feels like Kallo does. There are lots of things going right at Telsa but a material hiccup could lead to a correction, he wrote. He also pointed out that Tesla stock is the most widely bought stock in the past month on Robinhood, the retail investor trading app.

His point is that euphoria among retail investors might be driving shares too high.

Tesla shares are, indeed, high. The stock is up roughly 50% over the past month, 260% year to date, and 500% over the past year. The gains have been incredible, exceeding comparable returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 as well as Teslas traditional automotive peers.

These are three, relatively bearish takes on the quarter. All acknowledge recent solid business execution, while asking how much is enough for the stock. More previews will be out in coming days.

Tesla is now the worlds most valuable car company. Elon Musks companys market capitalization is now more than 10 times Henry Fords namesake Ford Motor (F).

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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Teslas Earnings Are Coming. Heres What Wall Street Is Saying. - Barron's

Bob Lutz, the blunt-talking former vice chairman of General Motors GM, +0.53% , said almost two years ago that Tesla was headed for the graveyard. Then, earlier this year when the stock was trading at about half where it is right now, he described the rally as almost a mass psychosis.

Hes not the hater he once was, but he still has his doubts:

The rise in stock price and the fact that Tesla is worth more than Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford combined is worth more than Volkswagen and Toyota has nothing to do with reality.

Thats Lutz, after years of beating up Elon Musk and Tesla TSLA, -4.54%, explaining to CNBC this week how hes warming up to the company but not without hesitation.

Tesla is not a very profitable company that creates a decent return for shareholders, he continued. It is always struggling for profitability, yet it has a huge market cap.

While Lutz did acknowledge Tesla has very good technology and Musk has done a brilliant job, he pointed out that the other car behemoths have made similar advances that stack up well.

Tesla may be giants in the electric car business but annually they [make] 300,000 cars compared to 10 million a year for Toyota, about 8 million a year for GM, he said. Fiat Chrysler, Ford and GM combined [make] about 20 million a year, so Tesla is not very big.

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Auto icon Bob Lutz once predicted Tesla was headed to the graveyard 430% later, hes not so sure - MarketWatch

A button for launching the Netflix application is seen on a remote control in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on April 25, 2019.

Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

NetflixShares of the streaming video giant fell 6.5% after company missed earnings estimates gave guidance for subscriber growth that came in lower than Wall Street expected. The company also announced that Ted Sarandos would become co-chief executive officer.

Nio Shares of electric car maker Nio dropped more than 14% after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded them to sell. The analyst cited concern around Nio's valuation after the stock surged more than 60% last month. "We believe the current share price reflects over-optimism given no substantial changes to volume/profit expectations," the analyst wrote in a note.

BlackRockShares of the money manager jumped 3.3% after it beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its second quarter. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $7.85 on $3.65 billion of revenue, showing growth in performance fees and technology service revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected $6.99 in earnings per share and $3.54 billion of revenue.

Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet Alongside Netflix, the so-called FANG stocks slid, continuing technology stocks weakness this week. Facebook lost 0.5% and Alphabet dropped nearly 1%. Microsoft and Amazon lost 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively. All of the FANG stocks are headed for big weekly declines.

State StreetShares of State Street dropped 3.5% despite its better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The asset manager said it earned $1.86 per share in the latest quarter, helped by lower expenses and strong fee performance. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $1.58 a share.

J.B. Hunt Shares of JB Hunt Transport gained 3% after thetransportation and logistics company's second-quarter earnings beat expectations. Wall Street also grew more bullish on the company following the results. Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to hold from sell, citing pricing benefits and a better macro backdrop. Citigroup, UBS and Morgan Stanley all raised their price targets on JB Hunt Friday.

Tesla Shares of the electric vehicle maker gained 1% after Credit Suisse doubled its target on the stock to $1,400 from $700. The firm maintained its neutral rating on the Elon Musk-led company, however. Shares of Tesla have more than tripled this year.

Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise, Royal Caribbean Cruises Shares of the major cruise line operators all dropped more than 1% after the CDC extended a no-sail order through the end of September. The order, which was first announced in March, was set to expire on July 24.

Regions Financial Shares of the company slid 3.2% after missing on its second quarter earnings. Third quarter net interest income guidance disappointed.

with reporting from Yun Li, Fred Imbert, Jesse Pound and Pippa Stevens.

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Netflix, Nio, BlackRock, Tesla and more - CNBC

A Tesla Model S is displayed during the London Motor and Tech Show at ExCel on May 16, 2019 in London, England.

John Keeble | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:

Netflix Shares of the streaming service plummeted 10% in extended trading after releasing its second-quarter financial results. Netflix reported second-quarter earnings of $1.59 per share on revenues of $6.15 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of $1.81 per share on revenues of $6.08 billion. Netflix also announced that Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos will become co-CEO with current CEO Reed Hastings.

Tesla Tesla's stock fell nearly 2% in extended trading after dropping about 3% during the day. Tesla's vehicle registrationsnearly halved in California during the second quarter as the coronavirus hurt production and auto sales, according to a report released earlier Thursday.

J.B. Hunt Shares of the transportation company climbed 3% after the final bell. J.B. Hunt posted second-quarter earnings of $1.14 per share on revenues of $2.15 billion, beating analysts' expectations. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of 80 cents per share on revenues of$2.02 billion.

PPGIndustries PPG Industries' stock jumped 4% in extended trading upon the release of its second-quarter financial results.PPG reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 99 cents per share on revenues of $3.02 billion. Earnings went above expectations of analysts polled by FactSet, who expected earnings of 70 cents per share on revenues of $2.81 billion. PPG noted one of the strong points for the quarter came from its global architectural coatings businesses, driven by a do-it-yourself demand during the coronavirus.

Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival Shares of cruise lines fell after the market closed and the CDC announced it will ban U.S. cruises through September.Norwegian Cruise Lines and Carnival's stock both fell 1% after hours. The CDC's original order was set to expire July 24 but the agency cited "ongoing" coronavirus outbreaks on ships for its continued ban.

CBL& Associates The mall owner's stock dropped 2% after the market closed. The move comes after CBL adjusted its forbearance agreement on notes due in 2023 and 2026 after the company missed interest payments on the notes due in June and failed to pay within the 30-day grace period, according to an SEC filing.

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Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Netflix, Tesla, J.B. Hunt and more - CNBC

Mercedes-Benz will finally offer an electric range that is competitive with Tesla when it launches the EQS next year.

The Daimler subsidiary says its full-electric rival to the Model S will travel more than 700 km (435 miles) on a single charge, based on the WLTP testing cycle.

The EQS will set the benchmark, Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius told the companys shareholders earlier this month. When it comes to luxury, comfort and safety, the EQS is in the same league as the S-Class.

The long-range version of Teslas flagship sedan can travel 609 km on a single charge, based on the WLTP cycle.

Currently, the best range Mercedes offers is 471 km in the EQC midsize crossover, but that figures is based on the less stringent NEDC testing standard. On the WLTP cycle the EQC's range would be significantly less.

The EQS, slated to be built in Daimlers state-of-the-art Factory 56 in Sindelfingen, near Stutgart, will be underpinned by a platform dedicated to battery-electric vehicles called EVA2.

Daimler said that using the EVA2 platform allows Mercedes to offer improved packaging and design compared with the EQC, which employs a version of the rear-wheel-drive MRA platform usually used for combustion engine cars.

Daimler used MRA on the EQC to increase assembly line flexibility at the automakers Bremen plant, where full-electric and non-electric cars are made on the same line. Using MRA also reduces the financial risk that comes with having a dedicated platform. BMW follows a similar route as it has so far refused to invest in an architecture solely for electric vehicles.

Thus far, the EQC has been a commercial flop as fewer than 500 were registered in the first half of this year in Germany. Despite the poor initial result in one of its key markets, Daimler has targeted overall production of 50,000 EQCs for this year.

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Mercedes promises EQS will have Tesla-topping range - Automotive News Europe

Two generations of tech giant will report earnings on Wednesday, in the form of trillion-dollar IT titan () and rapidly rising electric car manufacturer ().

Bill Gatess venerable venture has seen its stock rise a respectable 30%-plus since the start of the year, and over the past three years it is up almost 190% to notch a market value north of US$1.6trn.

Teslas turbocharged gains of late put that rise in the shade, with the stock having risen more than 280% so far in 2020 and roughly 400% over three years, making it the largest auto company in the world by market cap more than three times the size of carmaker rivals GM and Ford put together.

The stocks strong performance has come amid expectations of a surge in buying from index-tracking funds if it is added to the S&P 500, which it will be able to do once it has shown a profit over the previous 12 months, including its newest earning figures.

Current analyst estimates, however, suggest that boss Elon Musk willreport a second-quarter loss of US$53mln, orUS$1.79 per share.

But recent production and delivery numbers, whichwere well ahead of analyst expectations, suggest that the Street's estimates maybe too conservative, Barclays analysts said, forecasting a net profit ofUS$42mln.

Withcurrent levels the stock trades for around 190 times earnings, an eye watering level that we struggle to see as justified, analyst Nicholas Hyett at Hargreaves Lansdownsaid half-year results on Wednesday are an important test of whether the markets extreme optimism is justified.

Sales and deliveries are all well and good, automotive manufacturing is a scale game after all, but ultimatelyTeslaneeds to deliver profits and free cash flow.

Disruption to production caused by lockdowns in Fremont, California and the blip in sales are expected to put a dent in margins for the second quarter.

But, ifTeslacan deliver some good news in an economic backdrop thats hardly ideal for selling premium priced cars that might go some way towards justifying the bulls, Hyett said.

As for Microsoft, which will report its fourth-quarter numbers after the bell, Wall Street is expecting revenues of US$36.5bn and pro forma EPS of US$1.37.

Back in April, the tech titan said sales of its services had been boosted by greater demand for its Azure cloud service and cloud-based versions of Office software, the Teams collaboration and online meeting programmes and its Xbox gaming services as the coronavirus pandemic forced more people to stay in and work from home.

This was partly offset by some problems with supply chain issues in China, which delayed some spending to build Azure data centres, but this improved late in the third quarter.

Boss Satya Nadella said there had been two years worth of digital transformation in two months, however this week we heard that the group is planningto cut 960 jobs or 6% of the global workforce at itsLinkedIn arm, which it bought for US$26bn in 2016.

Analysts at broker Wedbush said they expect strong Azure growth as the work from home environment encourages more businesses to make the strategic shift to the cloud with Microsoft.

In many cases we are seeing enterprises accelerate their digital transformation and cloud strategy with Microsoft by 6 to 12 months as the prospects of a heavy remote workforce for the foreseeable future now looks in the cards with this COVID-19 backdrop, analysts said.

To this point, we believe Azure's cloud momentum is still in its early days of playing out within the companys massive installed base and the Office 365 transition for both consumer/enterprise is providing growth tailwinds over the next few years.

With 33% of workloads in the cloud today, this is expected to hit 55% by 2022, we believe this WFH shift could clearly accelerate the cloud trend by roughly a year as more CIOs are now being forced to face the new normal/reality for their respective organizations looking ahead.

If Tesla is allowed into the S&P 500, on the basis of free-float it would enter the S&P 500 in 18th place, wedged between and .

When this happens, it will no doubt be a massive moment for the company and its investors, said Peter Hillerberg of Ortex Analytics, which calculates that there is just under US$3trn in transparent mutual funds and ETFs that directly track the composition of the S&P 500 and at least a further US$5trn of assets in funds which benchmark against the index.

Although these funds dont necessarily need to buy or sell stocks as the composition of the index changes, for a company newly added to the index Hillerberg said it does tend to lead to a flurry of activity as fund managers decide if they want to remain underweight or overweight.

However, Hillberg said investorsmay have to show patience over the coming months and wait until the next quarter before the S&P green light is given,allowing the groupto supercharge the index.

Looking to later in the year, some analysts noted thatDemocrat presidential candidate Joe Biden'sproposals include a positive policy position on EVs, with plans to invest in 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.

Bidens goal is to combine going green with economic recoveryto 'build back better',promising to create a millionnew jobs in theautoindustry, domestic auto supply chains, and auto infrastructure, from parts to materials to electric vehicle charging stations, which will depend on the repurposing of the auto industry from oil combustion to EV.

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Tesla and Microsoft earnings put US tech sector in the spotlight on Wednesday - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

Short interest in Telsa is at its lowest level since at least 2015 after a major share price rally sent hedge funds scurrying to cover their positions in the face of up to $6.43 billion of mark-to-market losses as of mid-July.

Teslas share price has increased steadily since roughly October 2019 and then spiked further in Q2 to now top $1,600 as of 20 July.

Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners, notes that shorts are down $20.41 billion in net-of-financing mark-to-market losses in 2020, including down $38 million on 15 Julys 1.93 percent positive share price move.

After being down $3.68 billion of mark-to-market losses in June, Tesla shorts are already down $6.43 billion of mark-to-market losses as of 15 July.

As a result, Tesla shorts are being squeezed out of their positions due to large mark-to-market losses.

Data from S3 Partners shows that Tesla short interest was $19.79 billion representing 13.05 million shares short and 8.86 percent of its float with a 0.3 percent stock borrow fee as of 15 July.

By the same period, the number of shares shorted had decreased by 2.09 million shares (-$3.17 billion in market value) over the past month, a decrease of 13.80 percent as its stock price rose by 62.18 percent.

In the week prior to 15 July, the number of shares shorted decreased by 1.30 million (-$1.98 billion in market value ), a decrease of 9.09 percent as its stock price rose 9.13 percent over the same period.

Borrow fees for Telsa have been in the general collateral range since October 2019, S3 data shows.

In the past, the perennial short target has often courted demand to borrow that does not closely track its share price. This is in part due to a series of controversies and conspiracies peddled in social media forums surrounding Teslas enigmatic chief Elon Musk.

This time, however, short sellers have fled in the wake of Teslas meteoric rise saw its share price increase from around $200 to just over $1,600 this week.

The rocketing share price is the result of a series of announcements for new Tesla Gigafactories around the world, technology upgrades and new partnerships with firms and endorsements of the electric vehicles in the US and elsewhere.

Moreover, Teslas next earnings call, scheduled for 22 July, may cause short sellers to retreat further and is expected to be Musks next victory lap and may even secure his firm a place in the S&P 500.

Tesla is the largest domestic equity short Ive ever seen and the first US equity short with over $20 billion of short interest, says Dusaniwsky, who notes that only Apple has ever come close to garnering the same levels of short interest with $16.97 billion seen on 19 November 2019.

There are the three big hedging exchange-traded funds (ETF), SPY, IWM and QQQ, which are in this stratosphere but there is no other equity that has been close to TSLA, he adds.

Current ETF short interests is SPY $60.9 billion, IWM $18.2 billion and QQQ $16.6 billion, making Tesla the second-largest equity/ETF/American depositary receipt in the US market.

Apple and Amazon place second and third respectively for the most equity short interest in the domestic US market by trail far behind Tesla.

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End of the road for Tesla shorts? | securitieslendingtimes.com - Securities Lending Times

Ben Sullinsand his wife Jennie took delivery of one of the first Tesla Model Y crossovers in America. That proud moment put them in a rather elite club. More specifically, now they've owned all four current Tesla models. Sadly, Sullins didn't own an original Roadster, though someday he'll probably take ownership of the upcoming version.

While the Tesla Model 3, Y, S, and X have a lot in common, they're very different when it comes to pricing. In addition, they each work to appeal to different people. However, you need all the details before you can make a confident decision about which model is best for you.

Ben and Jennie talk about the pros and cons of each Tesla model, to help us decide for ourselves. They also reveal their favorite Tesla model. Which one do you think they choose? Will they be on the same page?

If you want the cheapest Tesla available today, the popular Model 3 is a no-brainer. To get a Tesla for less, you'll have to go with a used Model S. The Model S is Tesla's flagship sedan, and the top option if you want all the speed and range the automaker offers.

If you need the most space and have a more unlimited budget, the Tesla Model X is the winner here. However, the brand-new Model Y crossover surprisingly offers almost as much space as the Model X, for about half the money.

In the end, it all comes down to your priorities and budget. However, Ben and Jennie's experiences and dialogue may help you come to a decision. Check out the video and leave us a comment below.

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Which Tesla Is The Best? This Family Has Owned A Model S, 3, X, & Y - InsideEVs

Tesla is a controversial stock. That means investors need to sharpen their pencils and try to understand what analysts are sayingbecause when controversy is high, the Wall Street consensus doesnt mean anything.

There are a number of ways to quantify a controversial stock. One way is to look at analyst price targets. For Tesla (ticker: TSLA), target prices vary widely. The top analyst price target for the stock is now $2,322, set by Piper Sandler analyst Alex Potter Tuesday. One of the lowest from major brokers comes from Cowen analyst Jeffery Osborne. His target price is just $300 a share.

The $2,022 bull-bear spread is about 133% of Tesla stocks current level. Thats roughly three times the average bull-bear spread for Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. Yep, Tesla is controversial.

Potter uses a discounted-cash-flow, or DCF, model to arrive at his price target. A DCF is typically a detailed financial model that forecasts sales, profit margins, and interest rates. Its a very useful tool for financial analysts, but, as is the case with any model, the more assumptions that go into it, the greater the chance for error.

When updating his target price Tuesday, Potter increased his profit-margin expectations because of Teslas lead in software technology. Tesla, for instance, sells software-derived vehicle features for thousands of dollars. He also increased his vehicle delivery assumptions.

(Potters target generated a Wow tweet from CEO Elon Musk.)

Osbornes primary valuation metrics are price/earnings and price/ earnings growth, or PEG, ratios. A PEG ratio is useful for comparing valuation of other high-growth companies. It divides the PE ratio by the earnings growth rate. Tesla is growing fast, but Osborne believes the stock is still overvalued.

Potter rates shares the equivalent of Buy. Osbornes rating is Sell. J.P. Morgans Ryan Brinkman, Barclays Brian Johnson, Morgan Stanleys Adam Jonas, and RBCs Joseph Spak also rate shares the equivalent of Sell.

Brinkman has a $295 price target, just a hair below Osbornes. He derives his price target based on fundamentals alone, blending his DCF value and 2021 earnings multiples.

Brian Johnson also has a $300 target price. He calls Teslas business execution impressive but its shares overvalued. He uses a probabilistic framework, meaning he blends several scenarios to come up with a target price. Interestingly, he publishes an upside and downside case for the stock. His upside target is $1,925 a share, but his downside number is $36.

Adam Jonas is a bear, but less bearish than Osborne, Brinkman, and Johnson. His price target is $740. He values the components of Tesla separately. The car business, for Jonas, is worth $703 a share based on Ebtida multiples. He values Teslas potential mobility businesssuch as autonomous taxisat $37 a share. He values Teslas solar panel and energy storage business at zero.

Joseph Spak has a $615 price target. His method is a little different than other analysts. He uses a three times 2021 sales multiple and 18 times 2021 Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) multiple and adjusts his target for bull and bear scenarios.

There are so many ways to arrive at value. Those are the bears, Ben Kallo and Dan Ives are two Hold-rated analysts. Kallo has a $700 price target based on a 15 times 2022 Ebitda estimatein line with other large-cap high-growth peers, he writes. He was bullish on Tesla stock for a long time, but downgraded shares in 2020 after the risk-reward became more fairly balanced.

Ives, for his part, has a $1,250 price target and values Tesla stock at 42 times his 2025 estimated earnings of $30 a share. Wall Streets 2023 earnings estimate, by comparison, is roughly $24 a share.

Jefferies Philppe Houchois and JMP Securities Joe Osha are two more bullish analysts. Oshas price target is $1,500. He values Tesla like other category killers, including Apple (AAPL). That leads him to higher market-share and profit-margin assumptions than traditional auto makers have achieved.

Houchois price target is $1,200. Like Potters, it is DCF derived. It is the first true valuation repeat among Barrons sample. Still, assumption differences drive a $1,122 price difference. Thats $200 billion of market value.

Thats how 10 analysts arrived at a value for Tesla shares. Thirty-six analysts cover the company, according to Bloomberg. The average analyst price target now sits a little below $900.

Thats well below where shares trade, but its hard to keep up. Tesla stock has risen 268% year to date, crushing comparable returns of the Dow and S&P 500. Tesla is now the worlds most valuable car company.

Tesla stock was down 0.8%, at $1,504.41, in early trading. The stock closed up $29.21, or 1.9%, at $1546.01. The S&P 500 rose 0.9%.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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Is Tesla Worth $2322 or $300? How 10 Analysts See the Stock. - Barron's

Source

Is Tesla Worth Paying 300 Times 2020's Projected EPS for?

Since going public at $17 a share roughly 10 years ago, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has appreciated by an astonishing 8,841%, easily making it one of the best performing stocks over the last decade. The company's market cap is now nearly $300 billion, making it by far the most valuable "automaker" in the world (nearly double Toyota's (NYSE:TM) market cap), as well as one of the most valuable corporations in America.

Source

Tesla shares have essentially skyrocketed into the stratosphere, but is the company worth paying 300 times 2020's consensus EPS estimates for now?

We owned Tesla for years, since autumn 2013 to be exact. This is now my 47th article about Tesla on Seeking Alpha, and in the first piece I ever wrote on SA back in early 2017, I mentioned that "a $1,000 price target for Tesla stock in 2020-2021 is not only extremely fair, but appears highly attainable".

However, we recently exited our position, because of the uncertainty regarding the coronavirus situation, and the stock just appears to be extremely overbought on a short to intermediate-term basis. Nevertheless, I believe Tesla is a buy on a "nice pullback" (20% or more), as the company has enormous long-term potential, and its shares are likely to appreciate substantially over the next 2-5 years.

Despite coronavirus-related shutdowns and a slew of uncertainties, Tesla delivered 10,600 Model S/X vehicles in Q2, with an estimated average selling price/ASP of roughly $114,000. Now, this is a 13% QoQ decline, but given the situation with the coronavirus, factory shutdowns, and other variables, things could have been much worse. In fact, analysts (consensus) were expecting Tesla to deliver just 72,000 total vehicles in the quarter, but Tesla crushed those estimates by over 25%, as the company delivered 90,650 total vehicles in Q2.

In addition to the 10,600 Model S/X vehicles, Tesla also delivered 80,050 Model 3/Ys in Q2. While it is difficult to predict exactly how many of the 80,050 Model 3/Y sales were Model Y's, I suspect that Tesla delivered roughly 10,000 Model Ys in the quarter, with an ASP of around $55,000. This implies that Tesla delivered around 70,050 Model 3s in Q2 with an estimated ASP of roughly $47,500.

Now, 14% of Model S/X deliveries were subject to lease accounting, which brings us to an automotive sales figure of 9,116 Model S/X vehicles. 4% of Model 3/Y sales were also subject to lease accounting, which brings the automotive sales figure in the Model 3/Y segment to around 77,280 automobiles.

Therefore, we can presume that Tesla's automotive sales revenues in the Model S/X segment were roughly $1.039 billion (9,116 x $114,000). Model Y leasing began recently, so we can presume that all (or at least most) of the leasing from the Model 3/Y segment in Q2 were Model 3 vehicles. Thus, automotive sales revenues for the Model Y were likely around $550 million. Once we subtract 4% for lease accounting from the Model 3 deliveries, we are likely looking at around 67,248 Model 3s sold in the quarter, which brings our likely Model 3 automotive sales revenue figure to roughly $3.194 billion.

Total Revenue Estimates

Total revenue estimates for Q2: $6.103 billion

Source: Author's Material - All estimates are based on previous analyses, and available public information.

As our projections indicate, we expect Tesla to earn a small (7 cents EPS) non-GAAP profit in Q2, unless the company produces substantially more regulatory credit revenue than we anticipate. Naturally, this could enable the company to earn more. Nevertheless, our 7 cent EPS figure is a bit higher than the consensus estimate for a loss of 28 cents per share. Moreover, we expect revenues to come in towards higher-end estimates at roughly $6.1 billion, vs consensus estimates for just $5.23 billion in Q2.

Despite our projections being higher than consensus estimates indicate, we believe Tesla's stock has gotten ahead of itself in the short to intermediate term. The coronavirus is likely to plague the economy and consumer spending for some time. Thus, there is quite a bit of uncertainty about H2 for Tesla, as for the economy in general.

I believe that there will be a correction later this summer, or sometime in the fall. As the broader market corrects, so should Tesla's shares. I expect at least a 20% correction to occur concerning Tesla. From current levels, this would bring the stock down to around $1,200. It is plausible that the correction in Tesla could be more severe, but unless the economy begins to seriously unravel, we will likely begin to reenter the stock at $1,200 - $1,000 or lower if possible.

I continue to believe that Tesla has enormous potential long term and should substantially increase revenues as well as EPS in future years. This should enable the company's stock price to rise significantly as well over the next 2-5 years, in my view.

Want the whole picture? If you would like full articles that include technical analysis, trade triggers, portfolio strategies, options insight, and much more, consider joining Albright Investment Group!

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: This article expresses solely my opinions, is produced for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Please always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.

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Tesla's Frothy $300 Billion Valuation: The Correction Approaches - Seeking Alpha

With Tesla Inc. (TSLA) - Get Reportreporting its latest financial results this week, investors are looking for a key milestone that could spur a wave of buying activity in the stock.

The electric carmaker is on the cusp of inclusion in the S&P 500 index, and bulls consider it a "fait accompli," according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. To be eligible for the index, Tesla needs to post a profit for the second quarter, which is the first full quarter that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stakes are significant for Tesla investors, and CEO Elon Musk, as inclusion in the S&P 500 would trigger index fund buying. But posting positive earnings this quarter isn't a sure bet.

Here are some themes to watch in Tesla's upcoming report.

To help stimulate demand, Tesla announced several price cuts this year both in the U.S. and in China. Just last week, it slashed prices for Model Y unit in the U.S.; in late May, it reduced prices across its lineup. Analysts are mixed on whether this amounts to a savvy business move or a red flag that organic demand is lagging. Tesla's quarterly revenue stacked up against the 90,650 vehicle deliveries it reported earlier will shed light on the impact of price cuts to Tesla's top line. And the company's commentary on the quarter, and forward-looking statements, may reveal more on the rationale of the price cuts and how they may affect Tesla'sresults going forward.

Tesla shares have had a historic run-up over the past few months, despite the impacts of COVID-19. It's now the most valuable automaker in the world, with its valuation exceeding $300 billion. According to CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson, "[Tesla] shares have gotten ahead of underlying fundamentals and do not appropriately reflect various risks surrounding the story, including the fact TSLA is entering a major spending cycle with the construction of Gigafactories 4 and 5." Tesla bulls believe the carmaker can effectively scale production across the world, thus justifying the high valuation. But the factory projects will also "act as a significant drag on free cash flow over the next several quarters," adding risk to shares, he wrote. Look out for Tesla's comments on the timeline of factory buildouts in Germany and in the U.S., potentially in Texas.

The potential for China to become a major sales market for Tesla is a linchpin of the bull thesis, and it appears that EV sales in China have rebounded from earlier lows tied to COVID-19. According toChina's Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla sold14,954 Model 3 vehicles in June, up from 11,095 units in May and 3,635 units in April. According to Ives, "strong Model 3 demand out of China remains a ray of shining light (and we believe was a clear standout in 2Q) for Tesla in a dark global macro." He estimates that Tesla could deliver 150,000 cars in China this year, and that the China growth story could be worth "at least $400 per share" as production ramps up over the next 12 to 18 months.

Weeks ago, Tesla told investors that it delivered 90,650 units over the three months ending in June -- well ahead of Wall Street's consensus forecast of 72,000. It has not yet updated its full-year delivery guidance, however. Prior to the pandemic, Tesla told investors that it would easily deliver 500,000 vehicles this year. It's delivered around 179,000 in the first half. Last quarter, Tesla said that it would "revisit" its full-year guidance in its second quarter release, and will likely give comments on what to expect on the demand side for the rest of this year.

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Tesla Reports on Wednesday: 4 Things to Watch - TheStreet

Tesla reports its latest quarterly earnings on Wednesday. People will be paying extra close attention this time, because if the electric carmaker reports a profit for the second quarter, it could be eligible to join the S&P 500.

So, what does a company get out of joining this stock market index of 500 of the largest companies traded in the U.S.?

Really, its about investment. People have poured billions of dollars into funds that simply buy shares in whatever companies are in the S&P 500.

These are known as index funds and exchange-traded funds.

So if Teslas added, they have to buy Teslas stock, said Evan Rawley, a professor at the University of Minnesota.

That can boost stock prices, which makes the companys shareholders happy. It also means that those funds would have to buy any new stock the company issues. That could help the company raise cash, said Anil Shivdasani at the University of North Carolina.

This can be something that proves to be important for a company like Tesla, that, by its very nature, is a very capital intensive business, Shivdasani said.

The big institutional investors behind those S&P 500 index funds would also own a bigger share of the company.

Shivdasani said that could give them more incentive to try and influence company policy.

Institutional investors have been increasingly vocal, proactive, he said, especially on environmental and social issues.

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Teslas next quarterly earnings could make it eligible to join the S&P 500 - Marketplace

Grandiose pronouncements from Elon Musk are no longer exactly shocking. From his original mission statement we will not stop until every car on the road is electric to his curious decision to build flamethrowers, we are used to hearing Teslas CEO put his mouth where he hopes his company will follow.

Nonetheless, his recent proclamation that Teslas Autopilot system will be ready for full Level 5 autonomy by the end of this year came as a great surprise to all the experts and, by all, I mean pretty much everyone else in the entire automotive industry who think 2025, or even 2030, is the very earliest we might see full automotive autonomy.

Now, theres no absolutely no doubt that Tesla is a leader if not the leader in self-driving software. Oh, Waymos autonomous system may be more effective than Autopilot, but it employs far more complex sensor arrays (various forms of LIDAR and more radar sensors) than Teslas comparatively crude camera-based system. Were there an award for simplest self-driving systems doing the most with the least, if you will Tesla would win hands down.

Nonetheless, the industrys skepticism has less to do with Teslas hardware than exactly what Mr. Musk means by Level 5 autonomy. Theoretically, the answer to that is straightforward: the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which sets the standards for six levels of self-driving, defines Level 0 as complete human control while Level 5, the top echelon, means your robotic car can go anywhere at any time, in any weather or road condition.

And therein lies the rub. There are plenty of semi-autonomous Level 2 cars that can drive themselves under certain conditions (General Motors Super Cruise and Teslas Autopilot being the leaders). A few Level 4 vehicles notably Waymo can drive themselves without supervision, but only on specific roads. In other words, their complete autonomy is rigidly geo-fenced.

The problem is that Level 5 really does imply Mr. Musks Model 3s should soon be able to drive straight from the factory floor in Fremont all the way to Fairbanks, neither rain nor snow nor seemingly unmarked gravel roads keeping Autopilot from its appointed rounds.

Except thats clearly not possible. Self-driving cars may have proven themselves (semi-) capable of navigating the straight and narrow of Arizona highways, and even a select few suburban California neighbourhoods, but no one has figured out how to completely conquer snow banks, black ice, and the perils of sensor-clogging salt. Hell, in my experience, theres not a single automaker yet capable of getting one of their comparatively simple radar-based adaptive cruise control systems through a Canadian winter. Simply put, anyone that thinks their Model S is going to drive from downtown Montreal to their cottage north of Mont Tremblant in the middle of a January snowstorm is in for a rude awakening.

And thus we find ourselves once again dealing with Mr. Musks penchant for, lets call them exaggerations, running headlong into what would seem to be some very specific standards. Indeed, his claims to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai that complete autonomy will happen very quickly, then appear to be muddled by him implying that Level 5 autonomy will first be limited to California.

Well, besides the fact that other automakers are continuously expanding their self-driving capabilities to more California roads, theres the simple fact that, if the next generation of Autopilot is geo-fenced to the Golden State, strictly speaking thats Level 4 autonomy not Level 5.

Semantics, you say?

Not quite. Legion are the Tesla owners doing what my dear old dad would call when I arrived home with yet another dislocated shoulder from yet another motocross crash stupid s^%t. One Tesla acolyte Forbes John Koetsier recently boasted that Teslas self-driving technology is advancing faster than other manufacturers, citing the example of a friend who drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, using a fruit wedged in the steering wheel to simulate a human touch. Nor is this silliness limited to North America, the BBC recently reporting that a British man had his licence suspended for 18 months because he turned Autopilot on and then climbed into the passenger seat. Musks pronouncements even have some ardent fanboys predicting that Teslas next over-the-air Autopilot upgrade as in, later this year will be the whole Level 5 enchilada.

Now its possible, in a fine example of Trumpian obfuscation that finely honed process whereby the leader of the free world dog whistles exactly what he means to say and then provides himself an out-clause that Mr. Musks contention that Tesla will have the basic functionality of Level 5 autonomy is his weasel-clause. After all, Tesla has always taken pains to note the risk-taking daredevilry that has already been attributed to Autopilot Joshua Brown who centre-punched a transport truck, Walter Huang who rammed into a concrete barrier while reportedly playing a video game, etc. occurred when the company was (officially) claiming that Autopilot was only semi-autonomous. Nonetheless, the most recent claims make me wonder what manner of mayhem will occur now that Mr. Musk says Level 5 autonomy is within sight.

The most recent claims make me wonder what manner of mayhem will occur now that Mr. Musk says Level 5 autonomy is within sight.

But, you might be thinking, Tesla cant be held responsible if its owners misuse the companys cars.

Actually, they can and already have, a Munich court having recently ruled Tesla had to pull advertising that claimed its cars had the full potential for autonomous driving. The tribunal went even farther in stating that just by using the term Autopilot and other wording, the defendant suggests that their vehicles are technically able to drive completely autonomously. That, again, is when Tesla was officially claiming its cars were but semi-self-autonomous.

But lets just say for you-know-what-and-giggles, that Tesla can by some miracle put a totally self-driving car in consumers hands next year. The question then becomes who will be responsible for any collisions involving a totally self-driving Tesla. Insurance companies will almost certainly balk at bearing responsibility when their client, the cars owner, might have been asleep in the passenger seat. Will Tesla admit culpability? With Autopilot previously requiring human supervision, who was responsible was fairly easily delineated. With the car completely in charge, who is responsible for its operation becomes far more problematic.

And lets understand that Teslas, Level 5 or not, will still be involved in collisions. As Motor Mouth recently reported, the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently predicted that simply computerizing our cars will only reduce accidents by a third. Only by forcing computers into extremely cautious, borderline pedantic driving habits can self-driving get to the zero-fatality future weve all been told automotive autonomy promises. Mr. Musk has already posited that some level of danger will still be present, even with Level 5 Teslas. At the very least, crawling along at speeds that would likely make Autopilot safe enough for human use would seem at odds with one of the companys other main marketing messages ludicrous acceleration.

Like Mr. Trumps antics, I think weve all become inured to Elon Musks bold assertions. Its part of his management style, a major reason that Tesla is so successful and why he is worshipped by so many. But to claim his cars will be ready for completely driverless operation would seem to move his marketing game from merely audacious to downright reckless. Technology isnt ready. Our legal and insurance systems arent ready.

And, judging by the hare-brained antics of some Tesla owners, consumers definitely arent ready for the basic functionality of Level 5 autonomy.

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Motor Mouth: The truth about Tesla's Autopilot claims - Driving

Without any sugar-coating, this earnings season hasso far livedup to the expectationthat it would bethe worst since the 2008 financial crisis. Until now, S&P 500 components have posted a 47.4% decline in second-quarter profits with nearly 9% of reports issued. Based on delivered reports as well as expectations, FactSet analysts predict that earnings for the whole index will plummet nearly 45%. This could be the biggest drop since a 69% plunge during the worst times of the Great Recession which stroke the fourth quarter of 2008. Retail, travel and energy companies are in for the biggest declines in sales and profit but some were exempt from this dreadful fate.

After Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) delivered a $5.72 billion loss for the June quarter and warned that a "sustainable recovery" is more than two years away, United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) are "on board" this weekas far as earnings reports are concerned.

As for Dow Jones Industrial Average, eight of its components will report this week as will 80 S&P 500 members and several big names could offer some better news. Tesla Inc(NASDAQ: TSLA) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) will deliver on Wednesday,July 22nd, 2020.Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) will be publishing its earnings reportonThursday, July 23rd, 2020. Hopefully, they will provide hints that the pace is picking up.

Some analysts are expecting a narrower loss than a year ago, whereas others are hoping that the company can post a surprise GAAP profit. After it announces results on Wednesday, Tesla could end up meeting every requirement for entering the S&P 500 index, which requires four straight quarters of profitability for entry. The EV pioneer has already achieved three consecutive quarters of profitability,the fourth onecould be added to the index at any time. The anticipation of that event may behelping boost its price as Tesla's stock skyrocketed during the first half of the year. Although Musk has fallen short of some of his bold promises, he did deliver on quite a few. SpaceXput humans into orbitand Tesla became not only the EV brand that consumers want but also the best-selling luxury car.The brand has helped topushthe entire auto industry into electrification.

Twitter Inc(NYSE: TWTR) reports will be released on the morning of Thursday, July 23rd, 2020, andSnap Inc(NYSE: SNAP) will be released onTuesday afternoon, July 21st, 2020. Twitter is bound to have gained some points for taking a stand against social injustice, unlike Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). Although, its recent security breach will most likelycome under the spotlight.

Snap's revenue growth is expected to have decelerated from the first quarter to the second quarter.Although,a double-digit ad growth relative to a year ago given the "growing appetite" for Snap's direct-response ads is likely in the cardsand let's not forget that this platform is a favorite among youngsters. Together, Twitter and Snap will shed some light on how the admarket is handling the pandemic.

On Thursday morning, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) will report its pandemic performanceandVerizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) will be releasing its report the following day. Both players saw their equipment revenue dive as stores closed due to COVID-19, but things could be picking back up with eased social distancing measures. Yet, AT&T is also dealing with other challenges. Film production at Warner Bros. has been put to a halt, media channels have been harmed with less ad spending and DirecTV is being hit with an avalanche of cord-cutting.

There's at least one Dow member on the schedule every day in the week ahead. IBM Common Stock(NYSE: IBM) will open the week on Monday afternoon, followed by Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) on Tuesday morning and Microsoft on Wednesday afternoon. As for Thursday, Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV) and Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) will take the morning stage. On Friday morning, July 24, 2020, American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) and Verizon will wrap up the week. And if that's not enough for you, there is also the Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) which is expected to have handled the pandemic and consequent restrictions on indoor dining better than expected.

This article is not a press release and is contributed by a verified independent journalist for IAMNewswire. It should not be construed as investment advice at any time please read the full disclosure. IAM Newswire does not hold any position in the mentioned companies. Press Releases If you are looking for full Press release distribution contact: press@iamnewswire.com Contributors IAM Newswire accepts pitches. If you're interested in becoming an IAM journalist contact: contributors@iamnewswire.com

The post A Week of Dow and Tesla to "Cure" COVID-19-Tainted Earnings appeared first on IAM Newswire.

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A Week Of Dow And Tesla To "Cure" COVID-19 Tainted Earnings - Benzinga

For millions of traders and CNBC addicts, the word "Tesla" doesn't mean cars it means TSLA, one of the wildest large-cap stocks the world has ever seen.

Driving the news: On Monday alone, Tesla opened $114 higher than its previous close, then gained another $136 within 15 minutes, then dropped by $324 before the market closed. (Even during the drop there was a half-hour period where the stock rose another $100.)

Large-caps aren't supposed to be this volatile. Tesla's Monday peak was 89% higher than the low point two weeks earlier on no real news.

By the numbers: Tesla stock is popular among day-traders who don't like to hold any kind of position overnight. Partly as a result, it opened higher than its previous close every day this month up to yesterday.

Don't look to Wall Street analysts for clarity. Their price targets range from $87 (Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research) to $2,322 (Alex Potter of Piper Sandler).

The bottom line: Cars and carmakers have had mythic status for decades. But for the time being it often seems that there's only one game in town.

Go deeper: Breaking down the Tesla obsession

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Tesla and TSLA: Electric vehicle to gambling vehicle - Axios