UPDATE: we’ve got a few new additions for the closing days of 2024, including sweet deals on the Mustang Mach-E GT (above), Toyota bZ4X, and more!
As I was putting this December list together, I realized there were plenty of ways for me to present this information. “Best EVs to park under a Christmas tree ..?” Too opinion based. “EVs with the biggest discounts ..?” Too much research. In the end, I decided to list these 0% financing deals in alphabetical order, by make.
And, trust me: they’ll all look great with a big red bow on them. Enjoy!
Acura
2024 Acura ZDX Type S; via Acura.
The new-for-2024 Acura ZDX uses a GM Ultium battery and drive motors, but the styling, interior, and infotainment software are all Honda. What that means is that you’ll get a solidly-built EV with GM levels of parts support and Honda levels of fit, finish, and quality control. All that plus Apple CarPlay and 0% financing for 24-72 months makes this (arguably) the best Ultium-based sporty crossover yet.
The big Ultium-based EVs from GM’s dedicated truck brand are impressive beats, with lightning-quick 0-60 acceleration and on-road handling that seems to defy the laws of physics once you understand that these are, essentially, medium-duty trucks. If you’re a fan of heavy metal, you’ll definitely want to stop by your local GMC dealer and give the Hummer EV and Sierra Denali EV a test drive.
Hyundai
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 5.
One of my all-time favorite retro rides, this Hyundai Pony/Lancia Delta-inspired Hyundai IONIQ 5 combines practical five-passenger packaging and a light, airy interior with serious driving fun. If they sold it in bright white with Martini decals from the factory, I’d already have two.
Kia
Kia EV6 burnout; via Kia.
If you were waiting for a three-row SUV from a mainstream brand with a great warranty and normal doors, you’ve probably already checked out the Kia EV9. You’re not alone. Kia keeps setting EV sales records, and the EV9 is helping to drive those sales forward … but the EV9 isn’t the only battery-powered Kia that’s drawing fans.
On the sportier side of the dealership, the Kia EV6 offers supercar-baiting levels of straight-line performance in the top GT trims – and even the base models offer a rewarding experience behind the steering wheel. What’s more, with an updated model coming for 2025, the ’24 models are ripe for the picking.
Nissan
2024 Nissan Ariya at Chicago Drives Electric; by the author.
The Nissan Ariya is a victim – and, frankly, it deserves better than its status as a heavily discounted also-ran in the five passenger crossover race, if only because Nissan has been flying the flag of electrification since the launch of the original LEAF EV since 2010 two years before Tesla launched its Model S in 2012. Despite the head start, though, Nissan never gained enough momentum to stay ahead in the EV race.
I drove the car at Chicago Drives Electric a few weeks ago, and it seemed like it was well worth the (discounted) price to me. With 0% financing for 72 months like I’m seeing advertised all over my news feeds? The Ariya is a better deal than ever.
Screencap from Countryside Nissan in Countryside, IL.
Subaru
Subaru Solterra EV; via Subaru.
Despite being something of a slow seller, this mechanical twin of the Toyota bZ4X EV seems like a solid mid-size electric crossover with some outdoorsy vibes and granola style that offers more than enough utility to carry your mountain bikes to the trail or your kayaks to the river.
Toyota
2024 Toyota bZ4X.
Toyota hybrids are a hot commodity right now, and we haven’t seen any newsworthy holiday discount deals from Toyota in years. That said, the bZ4X EV might be the best deal in Toyota’s end-of-the-year lineup with big discounts on both 2024 and 2025 model year bZ4X crossovers happening now. Through January 6th, you can score 0% financing for 72 months plus $2,500 in TFS bonus cash.
Volkswagen
VW ID.4X in China; via SAIC-VW.
One of the most popular legacy EVs, the ID.4 offers Volkswagen build quality and (for 2024) a Chat-GPT enabled interface. Still, with a relatively affordable base price, lickety-quick charging, up to 291 miles of EPA-rated range, and a 5-star safety rating, the ID.4 offers a value proposition that’s tough to beat.
This month, the only way to beat the ID.4’s 0% financing for 72 months would be to convince the bank to pay you to buy it.
Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
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Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
CEO of PayPal Alex Chriss speaks during the Semafor 2025 World Economy Summit at Conrad Washington on April 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
PayPalreported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company missed on revenue and reaffirmed its guidance for 2025 due to macro uncertainty. The stock fell about 2% in pre-market trading.
Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.33, adjusted vs. $1.16 expected
Revenue: $7.79 billion vs. $7.85 billion expected
While sales increased just 1% from $7.7 billion a year earlier, PayPal said the results reflect a strategy to prioritize profitability over volume, rolling off lower-margin revenue streams.
Transaction margin dollars, the company’s key measure of profitability, grew 7% to $3.7 billion, marking the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of profitable growth under CEO Alex Chriss.
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PayPal shares are down 24% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 10%
Total payment volume, an indication of how digital payments are faring in the broader economy, missed estimates, coming in at $417.2 billion, versus the nearly $418 billion analysts projected. The number of active accounts rose 2% from a year earlier to 436 million.
Venmo revenue rose 20% year over year, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. Total payment volume for Venmo increased 10% to $75.9 billion. Pay with Venmo transaction volume climbed 50% in the quarter and Venmo debit card monthly active users increased by about 40%.
Chriss has focused on better monetizing key acquisitions like Braintree and Venmo. DoorDash,Starbucksand Ticketmaster are among businesses now accepting Venmo as one way that consumers can pay.
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Ahead of PayPal’s earnings report, some analysts had struck a cautious tone despite the company’s focus on margin expansion. Morgan Stanley analysts warned in a note on Monday that investor sentiment remained bearish due to the potential impact of tariffs, competitive pressure from Apple and Shopify, and the risk of a long-term slowdown in branded checkout growth.
Jefferies analysts highlighted PayPal’s China cross-border exposure as an emerging risk tied to potential new tariffs and changes to the de minimis exemption.
For the second quarter, PayPal issued better-than-expected guidance, forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 to $1.31, above the average analyst estimate of $1.21. Transaction margin dollars will increase 4% to 5% to between $3.75 billion and $3.8 billion, the company said.
However, for the full year, PayPal chose to reaffirm its guidance, citing “global macroeconomic uncertainty.” The company expects earnings per share of $4.95 to $5.10 for the year and free cash flow in the range of $6 billion to $7 billion.
PayPal shares are down 24% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 10%.
British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
British oil giant BP on Tuesday posted slightly weaker-than-expected first-quarter net profit, following a recent strategic reset and a slump in crude prices.
The beleaguered oil and gas major posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $1.38 billion for the first three months of the year. That missed analyst expectations of $1.6 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.
BP’s net profit had hit $2.7 billion a year earlier and $1.2 billion in the final three months of 2024.
The results come as the energy major faces fresh pressure from activist investors less than two months after announcing a strategic reset.
Seeking to rebuild investor confidence, BP in February pledged to slash renewable spending and boost annual expenditure on its core business of oil and gas.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday that the firm was “off to a great start” in delivering on its strategic reset.
“We had a great operational quarter. We had our highest upstream operating efficiency in history. Our refineries in the first quarter ran at the best they’ve run in 24 years. We had six exploration discoveries in a row, which is really unusual and we started out three major projects,” Auchincloss said.
For the first quarter, BP announced a dividend per ordinary share of 8 cents and a share buyback of $750 million.
Net debt rose to $26.97 billion in the January-March period, up from $22.99 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. BP had previously warned of lower reported upstream production and higher net debt in the first quarter, when compared to the final three months of last year.
Shares of BP fell 3.3% on Tuesday morning. The firm is down roughly 8% year-to-date.
Activist pressure
BP’s green strategy U-turn does not appear to have gone far enough for the likes of activist investor Elliott Management, which went public last week with a stake of more than 5% in the London-listed firm.
The disclosure makes the U.S. hedge fund BP’s second-largest shareholder after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, according to LSEG data.
Elliott was first reported to have assumed a position in the oil and gas company back in February, driving a share price rally amid expectations that its involvement could pressure BP to shift gears back toward its oil and gas businesses.
BP’s Auchincloss declined to comment on interactions with investors when asked whether the firm was under pressure from the likes of Elliott to go beyond the plans announced in its February pivot.
Notably, BP suffered a shareholder rebellion at its annual general meeting earlier this month. Almost a quarter (24.3%) of investors voted against the re-election of outgoing Chair Helge Lund, a symbolic result that reflected a sense of deep frustration among the firm’s shareholders.
Mark van Baal, founder of Dutch activist investor Follow This, told CNBC last week that he hoped the shareholder revolt means Amanda Blanc, who is leading the process to find Lund’s successor, will look for a new chair who is “climate competent” and “will not respond to short-term activists so quickly.”
Lund is expected to step down from his role next year.
Takeover candidate
BP’s underperformance relative to industry peers such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell has thrust the energy major into the spotlight as a prime takeover candidate. Energy analysts have questioned, however, whether any of the likeliest suitors will rise to the occasion.
BP’s Auchincloss on Tuesday said that he wouldn’t speculate on whether the company is a takeover target, but confirmed the oil major had not asked for any sort of protection from the British government.
“What I will say is we’re a strong, independent company and we’ve got sector-leading growth. And if we can deliver the sector-leading growth, and the first quarter is a fantastic example of that, then I have no concerns. I think we’re going to do great,” Auchincloss said.
Murray Auchincloss, chief executive officer of BP, during the “CERAWeek by S&P Global” conference in Houston, Texas, on March 11, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices have fallen in recent months on demand fears. International benchmark Brent crude futures with June delivery traded at $65.19 per barrel on Tuesday morning, down more than 1% for the session. That’s lower from around $84 per barrel a year ago.
Asked whether weaker crude prices could put the some of the firm’s reset plans in jeopardy, Auchincloss said, “Not really. We have a balance of products that we think about that generate revenue for us. So, oil, natural gas and refined products as well.”
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this report.