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Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) joins former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024.

Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images

As Donald Trump celebrated his presidential victory early Wednesday morning, Elon Musk was right there with him.

“A star is born. Elon,” Trump said onstage at his Mar-a-Lago resort, thanking the world’s richest person for spending two weeks campaigning in Pennsylvania.

Musk, who poured at least $130 million into a pro-Trump campaign effort, turned Trump support into yet another full-time job in recent months, funding a swing-state operation to register voters and using his social media platform X to constantly tout his preferred candidate, frequently with misinformation.

Musk’s investment in Trump is already paying off, even though Trump doesn’t take office until Jan. 20.

Tesla shares soared 15% on Wednesday, adding roughly $15 billion in paper value to Musk’s net worth. The electric vehicle maker faces headwinds in the global market from China-based competitors, declining European sales and consumers’ growing distaste for his political views.

But with Musk cozying up to Trump, and the president-elect promising to slash the types of regulations that Musk abhors, Wall Street is betting Tesla, on balance, will be a beneficiary.

For Musk, the potential gains go well beyond Tesla.

During his victory speech, Trump also praised Musk’s SpaceX and thanked Musk for delivering Starlink Wi-Fi terminals to Hurricane-stricken parts of the U.S. That all leaves Musk with plenty of reasons to be optimistic that a second Trump administration will pay healthy dividends to him and his businesses.

Elon Musk's big bet on Trump is a home run for Tesla, says Wedbush's Dan Ives

Musk’s companies are currently embroiled in a range of probes and lawsuits from federal agencies pertaining to matters including alleged securities law violations, workplace safety, labor and civil rights violations, violations of federal environmental laws, consumer fraud and vehicle safety defects.

Given the executive branch’s outsized control over federal regulatory bodies, Musk can look forward to regulators and intelligence agencies winding down some or all of the 19 known ongoing federal investigations and lawsuits against Tesla, SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter.

At New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, Musk was one of many Trump fans and surrogates to speak during an all-day rally. Much of the coverage of the event focused on comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s bigoted quips, including his description of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

Musk was introduced by Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who called the Tesla CEO the “greatest capitalist” in U.S. history. Lutnick said he and Musk were co-founders of the envisioned “Department of Government Efficiency” and he asked Musk how much he thought could be cut from the federal budget.

Musk answered “at least $2 trillion,” which is more than the federal government’s discretionary budget of $1.7 trillion. The remark received a scream from Lutnick and applause from the crowd.

Musk didn’t specify what he sought to cut, but he previously accused agencies including the SEC, Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Aviation Administration of regulatory overreach or infringing on his free speech rights.

He also accused the Biden administration of hiring too many IRS personnel, and has vocally objected to a so-called billionaires tax.

Having a role in a bespoke commission could give Musk power over federal agencies’ budgets, staffing and the ability to push for the elimination of inconvenient regulations.

Musk also said during a Tesla earnings call on Oct. 23, that he intended to use his sway with Trump to establish a “federal approval process for autonomous vehicles.” Currently, approvals happen at the state level.

Tesla has been working on driverless technology for more than a decade but hasn’t yet produced a robotaxi or vehicle safe to use without a human ready to steer or brake at any time.

Additionally, a Trump administration may agree to ramp up the government’s work with his companies.

Musk’s newest startup, xAI, is developing large language models and generative artificial intelligence software that aims to compete with similar products from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Meta and others. 

Meta recently announced its open-source Llama models were available to U.S. government agencies in the areas of defense and national security. And OpenAI is already working with the U.S. military after adding a retired U.S. Army general and former director of the National Security Agency to its board in June.

Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX catches the first-stage “Super Heavy” booster of its Starship rocket on Oct. 13, 2024.

Sergio Flores | Afp | Getty Images

SpaceX’s billions in federal contracts

According to research on federal spending and prime contracts by FedScout, SpaceX has received more than $19 billion from contracts with the federal government since 2008, including from NASA, the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.

The company is on track to take in several billions of dollars annually from prime contracts with the federal government for years to come, according to FedScout CEO Geoff Orazem.

That number doesn’t include classified spending, smaller items like Starlink terminals, or spending that’s done at the state level via block grants from the federal government, like when the Federal Emergency Management Agency gives states assistance to help recover from natural disasters.

Meanwhile, Tesla has reported around $10 billion in sales of “automotive regulatory credits,” or environmental credits, since 2015, Orazem found by evaluating the company’s financial filings.

These incentives are largely derived from federal and state regulations in the U.S. that require automakers to sell some number of low-emission vehicles or buy credits from companies like Tesla, which often have an excess.

Regulatory credits were about 60% of Tesla’s net income in the second quarter of 2024, and 39% in the third quarter. Other government rebates on EV sales represented about 50% of Tesla’s third-quarter profit.

Trump hasn’t made clear whether he’ll maintain those rebates and regulatory credit programs. He previously said he may cut the federal $7,500 EV tax credit.

Additionally, Trump has promised to slash income taxes and to implement steep tariffs. While tariffs could help protect Tesla from Chinese competitors, such a move could involve significant disruption to Tesla’s automotive supply chain, which relies on some materials and parts from China.

When it comes to worker protections, Musk has been seeking to strike down the constitutional authority of the National Labor Relations Board through litigation. He may find such lawsuits are no longer needed if Trump is willing to eliminate or reduce the power of the agency, which is supposed to ensure that companies follow federal laws allowing workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers.

How Chinese state media views the U.S. presidential election

Then there’s Musk’s involvement with sanctioned governments.

At SpaceX, Musk has withheld the use of Starlink, the company’s satellite internet service, over Taiwan, even for U.S. troops based there. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk cut off access as a favor requested by Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a series of ongoing, frequent talks between the two men.

In response to the reports, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said if they were true, Musk’s conversations with Putin should be be federally investigated.

According to analysis by NBC News, Musk has repeatedly posted pro-Kremlin content to his hundreds of millions of followers on X. He even engaged with content from Tenet Media and its creators at least 60 times on the social network. Tenet was at the center of an alleged Russian covert operation to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the 2024 election, according to the Department of Justice

While Vice President-elect JD Vance recently called Putin a U.S. adversary, Trump has frequently spoken of his affection for the Russian president, even since Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Kremlin officials have celebrated Trump’s victory in this week’s election.

Musk, who publicly endorsed Trump moments after the first assassination attempt on the former president in July, has said he intends to remain involved in U.S. politics for the long haul.

He said in a discussion on X on Tuesday that his super PAC would continue its work after the presidential election and would seek to influence the outcomes of midterms, intermediate elections and elections of local prosecutors across the U.S.

A priority, Musk said, would be to help elect district attorneys “who prosecute repeat violent criminals who are obviously a danger to people.”

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Trump likely to uphold CHIPS Act despite his campaign rhetoric, experts say

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Trump likely to uphold CHIPS Act despite his campaign rhetoric, experts say

Illustration of the China and U.S. flag on a central processing unit.

Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump is unlikely to roll back the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, despite his campaign rhetoric on the bill, experts say. 

The legislation, which provides incentives for chipmakers to set up manufacturing in the U.S., became a point of contention in the final month of the election cycle.

Trump criticized the bill and its price tag. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, then said that his party “probably will” try to repeal the law. Johnson later walked the statement back.

Still, the key Biden policy, which has massive implications for Asian chips makers like TSMC and Samsung, is likely safe in the near term, according to chip experts. 

Despite signaling he’s “not thrilled” about the bill, Trump is probably not going to roll it back, Paul Triolo, senior vice president for China and technology policy lead at Albright Stonebridge, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.

“There’s support for this kind of onshoring of advanced manufacturing,” he added. 

U.S.-China relations: 'No question' Trump will intensify tariffs, economist says

The Biden administration signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act in August 2022, committing almost $53 billion to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research with the aim of boosting  U.S. competitiveness with China.

The former president made headlines in October by attacking the legislation as a “bad” deal during a three hour interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan. 

“We put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come in and borrow the money and build chip companies here, and they’re not going to give us the good companies anyway,” he said, arguing instead that his proposal to increase tariffs would attract chip companies for free. 

The allocation of the CHIPS Act has been slow, with the lion’s share of the earmarked funds yet to be doled out.

So far, the bill has attracted Asian chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung to build U.S. facilities. The two companies have already been offered $6.6 billion and $6.4 billion, respectively. 

The largest CHIPS Act beneficiary has been the American chip maker Intel, which has been awarded $8.5 billion in funding.

While Trump may want to modify and change some of the priorities of the bill and its fund allocation, he’s expected to leave most of it intact.

The Trump administration will probably try to reinterpret the bill “so they can spread the money a little differently than Biden, but I don’t think they’re going to roll it back,” Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday. 

Posen said that this would mirror what Biden had done by leaving Trump’s China tariffs in place when he took office, despite pivoting to a more industrial policy focused strategy. 

“But I do think there’ll be much more expansion on the tariff front, rather than industrial policy expanding,” he added. 

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Adyen shares slide 10% as payments giant’s transaction volume growth slows

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Adyen shares slide 10% as payments giant's transaction volume growth slows

Adyen reported a big miss on first-half sales Thursday. The news drove a $20 billion rout in the company’s market capitalization .

Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Shares of Adyen lost ground in early Thursday deals, as the company reported a slowdown in the growth of its transaction volumes in the third quarter.

Shares of Adyen initially failed to open Thursday after the company’s third-quarter report, but resumed trade. The stock was down 9.8% at 8:35 a.m. London time, taking it to the bottom of the pan-European Stoxx 600.

Adyen’s sales growth came off the back of a rise in total processed volume (TPV), which climbed 32% year-over-year to 321 billion euros. In the first half, Adyen posted a 45% jump in TPV, after previously reporting 46% year-over-year growth in the first quarter.

Analysts at Citi said in a research note that “weaker” transaction volume was likely to attract most of the focus from investors Thursday, amid concerns over end-market weakness.

“Either way, the take rate on the processed volume is comfortably higher than expected and, if sustainable, should support sales growth acceleration in 2025/26, while the lower run-rate of hiring should support continued margin uplift,” they wrote.

Digital processed volumes grew 29% year-over-year, Adyen said, lower than in the previous quarter due to impacts from a single large-volume customer, Block’s Cash App.

The company otherwise reported a jump in sales in the third quarter as the Dutch payments firm gained wallet share and added new customers, diversifying its merchant mix. Adyen, whose technology allows businesses to accept payments online and in-store, reported third-quarter net revenue of 498.3 million euros ($535.5 million), up 21% year-on-year on a constant currency basis.

The firm observed stronger traction from in-store payments in the third quarter, with its “unified commerce” point-of-sale terminals seeing 33% year-over-year growth, as it installed base of physical payment devices increased by 46,000 to 299,000.

Adyen also said that it expanded hiring slightly, adding 35 new people in the quarter. The firm has been slowing hiring in the past year following concerns over its pace of investment.

Last year, the Dutch payments giant’s shares tanked nearly 40% in a single day on the back of worse-than-expected sales and declining profits in the first half of 2023

.

Payments firms saw a boost from an increase in online shopping during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But in recent years, companies such as Adyen have faced pressure from lower consumer spending.

Adyen, however, has benefited from significant growth from partnerships with its North American clients, such as Cash App in the U.S. and Shopify in Canada.

Adyen kept guidance unchanged Thursday, saying it expects to achieve net revenue growth between the low to high-twenties percent, up to and including 2026.

The firm added it expects to improve its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to levels above 50% by 2026.

Capital expenditure will remain consistent at a level of up to 5% of net revenues, Adyen said.

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Qualcomm pops on chipmaker’s earnings and revenue beat

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Qualcomm pops on chipmaker's earnings and revenue beat

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon speaks at the Computex forum in Taipei, Taiwan, June 3, 2024.

Ann Wang | Reuters

Qualcomm reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat Wall Street expectations for earnings and revenue, and the company guided to a strong December quarter.

The shares rose 10% in extended trading at one point before falling to a gain of about 4%.

Here’s how the company did versus Refinitiv consensus expectations for the quarter ending Sept. 29:

  • Earnings per share: $2.69, adjusted $2.56 expected
  • Revenue: $10.24 billion versus $9.90 billion expected

Qualcomm said it expects revenue in the current quarter of between $10.5 billion and $11.3 billion, with the midpoint of that range beating LSEG consensus expectations of $10.59 billion.

The company reported $2.92 billion in net income, or $2.59 per share, a sharp jump from last year’s $1.49 billion, or $1.23 per share. Qualcomm reported $33.19 billion in total revenue in its fiscal 2024, a 9% increase from 2023.

Qualcomm’s fortunes have historically been tied to the smartphone industry, where the company provides a range of chips to handset makers, including system-on-a-chip processors, modems, and antennas. The company makes the chip at the heart of most high-end Android devices, and many lower-end phones as well. Qualcomm also sells modems and related chips to Apple for its iPhones, and last year said its contract for 5G chips ran through 2026.

Qualcomm reported a 12% increase in handset chip sales to $6.1 billion, in line with FactSet estimates. Qualcomm introduced its high-end chip for 2025, called Snapdragon 8 Elite, in October.

“In handsets we delivered greater than 20% year-over-year growth in Android revenues,” said Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala on a call with analysts.

Under CEO Cristiano Amon, the company has diversified away from being a smartphone supplier and has introduced and invested heavily in producing chips for PCs, cars, and industrial machines.

“We will continue to transform Qualcomm from a wireless communications company into a connected computing company for the age of AI,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said on the earnings call with analysts.

Qualcomm has also made efforts to brand itself as a leader in AI, having developed smartphone chips with specialized parts for machine learning since 2017. But unlike Nvidia, the company doesn’t produce the kind of graphics processors for data centers that are used for big AI programs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The automotive business grew 86% on an annual basis to $899 million in sales. Qualcomm says it has billions of dollars in business with automakers currently in its development pipeline, and highlighted it was the fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Qualcomm said that it expected automotive sales in the current quarter to rise 50% on an annual basis.

The company’s “internet of things” business includes both chips for industrial purposes as well as the chips Meta uses in its Quest handsets and Ray-Ban Smart Glasses. It also includes the new business selling chips for laptops running Microsoft Windows. The division reported $1.68 billion in revenue, a 22% increase from a year earlier.

Qualcomm’s chip business, including its handset, automotive, and other chips, which together is reported as QCT, saw sales rise 18% during the quarter to $7.37 billion in total. 

The company’s profitable technology licensing business, QTL, reported $1.52 billion in revenue, a 21% increase over the same period last year.

Qualcomm said its board had approved $15 billion in additional buybacks. During the fourth quarter, it repurchased $1.3 billion worth of shares and paid out $947 million in dividends.

WATCH: CNBC’s full interview with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon

Watch CNBC's full interview with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon

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