Two weeks into the second half of the year, we put together a quick look at the top three performers and the bottom three in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the stock portfolio we use for the Investing Club. The first full trading week of July saw Wall Street under some pressure Friday after a multisession winning streak. Gains month-to-date of roughly 2.4% for the Nasdaq add to the tech-heavy index’s best first half (up nearly 32%) in four decades. There are some new names on both the July leaders and July laggards list since we did this exercise looking at our January to June portfolio performance. July leaders HAL mountain 2023-06-30 Halliburton stock performance since June 30 close Oilfield services giant Halliburton (HAL) flips from a first-half loser (down 16%) to top our second-half winner. Month-to-date, HAL gained nearly 12%, a recent rally that we took advantage of Friday morning by booking in some profits. During our Monthly Meeting on Wednesday, we told members we were thinking about a HAL trim. We downgraded the stock in anticipation to a 2 rating . The recent HAL rally can be attributed to a feeling that oil and natural gas producers, like Club names, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) and Coterra Energy (CTRA), might need to boost production and that means they’d need the help of a Halliburton. We’ll look for more color around production trends in North America when the company reports its second-quarter earnings this coming Wednesday before the opening bell. CRM 1M mountain Salesforce stock performance month-to-date. Salesforce (CRM) advanced 8.6% in July after a 59% first-half advance. The enterprise software giant announced it will be increasing list prices for some of its top-selling products for new and existing customers by an average of 9%. This is the first time the company has raised prices in seven years. The changes will go into effect next month. The company’s latest move should help top-line growth, expand margins, and boost cash flow. So far this year, CRM stock has also benefitted from getting costs down through personnel cuts and reducing office space. It also bought back stock. It looks like CRM’s quarter will come in the latter part of August. META 1M mountain Meta stock performance month-to-date. Meta Platforms (META) remains a top performer in the portfolio to start the second half, rising 7.6% for the first two weeks of July after more than doubling in the first half. The Facebook and Instagram parent made another 52-week high intraday high of $316.24 on Thursday following the launch of its Twitter rival. Meta’s Threads platform surpassed 100 million signups since last week’s debut. However, there are recent signs suggesting activity has cooled off a bit. More broadly, investors have been sticking with Meta for its leadership in generative AI to attract and keep users on its platforms while offering advertisers AI-powered tools to improve monetization. Jim predicts Meta will deliver a strong second quarter on Jul 26. NVDA mountain 2023-06-30 Nvidia stock performance since June 30 close Nvidia (NVDA), one of our leading tech holdings in the portfolio, has continued its momentum to start the second half of the year. Shares of the semi-king are up 7.5% over the last two weeks of July. (Nvidia and Apple (AAPL) are our only own-it, don’t-trade-it stocks.) To start out the first half of 2023, Nvidia was our top-performing stock in the portfolio with nearly a triple. Nvidia, whose market cap now surpasses $1 trillion, has led the tech sector and the broader market rally, convincing investors like us that its infrastructure and technology needed to fuel the market’s artificial intelligence demand is and will be essential to bring the nascent technology to the mainstream. Nvidia is set to release earnings on Aug. 23. July laggards FL mountain 2023-06-30 Foot Locker stock performance since June 30 close Foot Locker (FL) dropped about 6.5% to start the month, and it was our worst first-half loser (down more than 28%). This week, Baird cut its price target on the footwear and athletic apparel retail to $24 per share from $32 and kept its neutral rating. The analysts warned that FL’s high exposure to lower-income consumers could pressure the second half of the year. A tough macro backdrop is an overhang for CEO Mary Dillon as she tries to resurrect poor financials. She did it with Ulta Beauty (ULTA) back in 2013, and we believe she can do it a second time with Foot Locker. When initiating our position in the shoe retailer in March, we knew about the obstacles. However, the turnaround may take longer than initially expected. The difficulties surrounding Foot Locker are why we have not added to our position since its disappointing first quarter, but we still have faith in Dillon’s leadership and want to be in the stock to catch the potential wave when the tide turns. Second quarter results are due mid-August. PANW mountain 2023-06-30 Palo Alto Networks stock performance since June 30 close Palo Alto Networks (PANW) dropped more than 5.5% month-to-date, moving it to the July laggards list after its 83% first-half advance that had landed the leaders list. Earlier this week, Microsoft (MSFT) announced an expansion of its cybersecurity offerings. It’s a space dominated by PANW, so it’s no wonder why the stock sank 7% on Wednesday. It did, however, claw back some of those losses. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora told Jim in a “Mad Money” interview that he wasn’t concerned about Microsoft products because they’re for an area of the cybersecurity market that his company has been in for years. Jim said he was not worried about Wednesday’s sell-off and still sees PANW as the best way to play cybersecurity. PANW is expected to issue earnings late next month. LLY mountain 2023-06-30 Eli Lilly stock performance since June 30 close Eli Lilly (LLY) shares fell 4% in the first two weeks of July. Shares of the pharmaceutical company have recently been pressured after a Reuters report that cited a study that found most patients using weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk ‘s (NOVO) Ozempic, stop within a year. Another article last week reported that several patients using Ozempic had thoughts of suicide or self-harm. These headlines were negative read-throughs to Club holding Lilly, which makes the diabetes drug Mounjaro that’s being reviewed for obesity by regulators. Although we cannot fault anyone who wants to take profits in Eli Lilly after another stretch of significant outperformance (up 28% in the first half of 2023), we think the selloffs from both stories will prove to be overreactions. Lilly started to claw back some of its recent losses in a good session Friday. Jim maintains that Lilly’s Mounjaro will be the best-selling drug in history and that investors should not sell LLY stock. He also likes the company’s pipeline which includes a potential Alzheimer’s treatment, which would be a huge win for the company long term. Lilly is due to report its quarter Aug. 8. JNJ mountain 2023-06-30 Johnson & Johnson stock performance since June 30 close Johnson & Johnson was under pressure to kick off the second half, falling nearly 3.5% month to date and there are a couple of reasons for that. Health care is an out-of-favor defensive sector in a market attracting high-growth tech names. The other headwind : The company is awaiting the outcome of a pivotal talc trial. The verdict, which is expected any day now, could determine whether the many plaintiffs suing the company elsewhere will accept or reject J & J’s settlement offer of $8.9 billion. The ongoing legal disputes have been an overhang on J & J all year as the stock fell more than 6% in the first half. Given the uncertainty, we have held off on buying more of the drug maker. The talc trials have someone dimmed the light on the separation of its consumer products division from its pharmaceutical and medical technology units, which we viewed as a positive for shareholders. J & J reports earnings this coming Thursday. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long HAL, META, CRM, LLY, PANW, FL, PXD, CTRA, MSFT, NVDA, JNJ, AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 12, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Two weeks into the second half of the year, we put together a quick look at the top three performers and the bottom three in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust, the stock portfolio we use for the Investing Club.
Tesla has quietly removed the Cybertruck’s range extender from the options in its online configurator.
Does Tesla still plan to bring the product to market?
When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, there were two main disappointments: the price and the range.
The tri-motor version, which was the most popular in reservation tallies, was supposed to have over 500 miles of range and start at $70,000.
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Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.
As for the dual-motor Cybertruck, it was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. The reality is that it starts at $80,000, and it has 325 miles of range.
However, Tesla had devised a solution to bring the range closer to what it originally announced: a separate battery pack that sits in the truck’s bed. Tesla called it a “range extender.” It costs $16,000 and takes up a third of the Cybertruck’s bed.
Even though the Cybertruck has been in production for a year and a half at this point, the range extender has yet to launch.
At the time, Tesla also reduced the range that the removable battery pack adds to the Cybertruck to “445+ miles” rather than “470+ miles” for the dual motor – a ~25-mile reduction in range.
Now, Tesla has removed the option from its online Cybertruck configurator. It used to take reservations for the range extender with a “$2,000 non-refundable deposit”, as seen on the image above, but now it’s not in the configurator at all at the time of writing.
It’s unclear if Tesla is not planning to launch the product anymore or if it is just pausing reservations.
In its specs page, Tesla still lists the achievable range of both versions of the Cybertruck with and without the range extender battery:
Electrek’s Take
I’m curious. Is it dead, or does Tesla just want to stop taking reservations for it?
At first, I was curious about the product even though I didn’t think it would make up for Tesla’s significant miss on Cybertruck specs.
However, after it was confirmed that it takes up 30% of your bed and that it needs to be installed and removed by Tesla at a service center, I think it’s pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.
It’s going to be a product limited to only a few people at best. And now that’s if it makes it to market.
With the option being removed from the configurator, there’s no production timeline available. Again, the last one was “mid-2025”, which is soon.
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Portable power station specialist EcoFlow is kicking off its third annual Member’s Festival this month and is offering a unique new rewards program to those who become EcoFlow members. The 2025 EcoFlow Member’s Festival will offer savings of up to 65% for its participating customers, and a portion of those funds will be allocated toward rescue power solutions for communities around the globe through the company’s “Power for All” fund.
EcoFlow remains one of the industry leaders in portable power solutions and continues to trek forward in its vision to power a new tech-driven, eco-conscious future. Per its website:
Our mission from day one is to provide smart and eco-friendly energy solutions for individuals, families, and society at large. We are, were, and will continue to be a reliable and trusted energy companion for users around the world.
To achieve such goals, EcoFlow has continued to expand its portfolio of sustainable energy solutions to its community members, including portable power stations, solar generators, and mountable solar panels. While EcoFlow is doing plenty to support its growing customer base, it has expanded its reach by giving back to disaster-affected communities by helping bolster global disaster response efforts the best way it knows how– with portable power solutions.
Source: EcoFlow
EcoFlow and its members look to provide “Power for All”
Since 2023, EcoFlow has collaborated with organizations worldwide as part of its “Power for All” mission. This initiative aims to ensure access to reliable and timely power to disaster-affected communities across the globe, including rescue agencies, affected hospitals, and shelters, to support rescue and recovery efforts.
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This fund most recently provided aid for communities affected by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, assistance to the Special Forces Charitable Trust (SFCT) in North Carolina following severe hurricanes, and support for non-profits engaged in hurricane preparedness in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Per Jodi Burns, CEO of the Special Forces Charitable Trust:
In the wake of devastating storms in Western North Carolina, reliable power was a critical need for the families we serve. Thanks to EcoFlow’s generous donation of generators, we were able to provide immediate relief, ensuring these families and their communities had access to power when they needed it most. We are so impressed with EcoFlow’s commitment to disaster response through their ‘Power for All’ program. It has made a tangible impact, and we are deeply grateful for their support and partnership in helping these families recover and rebuild.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 weather and climate events, each causing losses exceeding $1 billion, marking the second-highest annual total on record, according to National Centers for Environmental Information. The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters underscore the critical need for reliable and timely power solutions during emergencies, much like EcoFlow and its members are helping provide through the “Power For All” initiative.
To support new and existing EcoFlow members, the company is celebrating its third annual Member’s Festival throughout April to offer a do-not-miss discount on its products and donate a portion of all sales to the “Power for All” fund to provide rescue power to those in need in the future. Learn how it all works below.
Source: EcoFlow
Save big and give back during the 2025 Member’s Festival
As of April 1st, you can now sign up to become an EcoFlow member to participate in the company’s exclusive 2025 Member Festival.
As a member, you can earn “EcoFlow Power Points” by completing tasks like registration, referrals, and product purchases and tracking your individual efforts toward disaster preparedness and recovery.
Beginning April 4, EcoFlow members will also be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts of up to 65% off select portable power stations, including the DELTA Pro Ultra, DELTA Pro 3, DELTA 2 Max, DELTA 3 Plus, RIVER 3 Plus, and more. However, these sale prices only last through April 25, so you’ll want to move quickly!
Click here to learn more about EcoFlow’s “Power for All” campaign. To register for EcoFlow’s 2025 Member Festival in the US, visit the EcoFlow website. To register as a member in Canada, visit here.
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Tesla is losing another top talent: its long-time head of software, David Lau, has reportedly told co-workers that he is exiting the automaker.
Tesla changed how the entire auto industry looks at software.
Before Tesla, it was an afterthought; user interfaces were rudimentary, and you had to go to a dealership to get a software update on your systems.
When Tesla launched the Model S in 2012, it all changed. Your car would get better through software updates like your phone, the large center display was responsive with a UI that actually made sense and was closer to an iPad experience than a car.
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Tesla also integrated its software into its retail experience, service, and manufacturing.
David Lau deserves a lot of the credit for that.
He joined Tesla in 2012 as a senior manager of firmware engineering and quickly rose through the ranks. By 2014, he was promoted to director of firmware engineering and system integration, and in 2017, he became Vice President of software.
Lau listed the responsibilities of his team on his LinkedIn:
Vehicle Software:
Firmware for the powertrain, traction/stability control, HV electronics, battery management, and body control systems
UI software and underlying Embedded Linux platforms
Navigation and routing
iOS and Android Mobile apps
Distributed Systems:
Server-side software and infrastructure that provides telemetry, diagnostics, over-the-air updates, and configuration/lifecycle management
Data engineering and analytics platforms that power technical and business insights for an increasingly diverse set of customers across the company
Diagnostic tools and fleet management, Manufacturing and Automation:
Automation controls (PLC, robot)
Server-side manufacturing execution systems that power all of Tesla’s production operations
Product Security and Red Team for software, services, and systems across Tesla
Bloomberg reported today that Lau told his team he is leaving Tesla. The report didn’t include reasons for his stepping down.
Electrek’s Take
Twelve years at any company is a great run. At Tesla, it’s heroic. Congrats, David, on a great run. You undoubtedly had a significant impact on Tesla and software advancements in the broader auto industry.
He is another significant loss for Tesla, which has been losing a lot of top talent following a big wave of layoffs around this time last year.
I wonder who will take over. Michael Rizkalla, senior director of software engineering and vehicle firmware, is one of the most senior software engineers after Lau. He has been at Tesla for 7 years, and Tesla likes to promote within rather than hire outsiders.
There are also a lot of senior software execs working on AI at Tesla. Musk has been favoring them lately and he could fold Lau’s responsibilities under them.
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