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CNBC Daily Open: It’s not completely bad news that Nvidia fell

Published

3 months ago

August 30, 2024

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A view of NVIDIA headquarters in Santa Clara of Silicon Valley, California, United States on August 28, 2024.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

Markets try to shrug off Nvidia
U.S. markets were mixed Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new closing high, but the other two major indexes didn’t fare as well. Asia-Pacific markets bucked the trend, climbing Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the top performer, rising 1.8%. Separately, Tokyo’s August inflation rose to 2.6%, the highest since March.

Outsized expectations
Nvidia shares lost around 6% Thursday despite the chipmaker posting quarterly revenue that was more than two times the figure a year earlier and the company announcing a $50 billion stock buyback, which usually pushes up share prices. That shows just how high investors’ expectations for Nvidia were.

Intel’s no longer inside
Intel, once the dominant semiconductor company, has been struggling in the wake of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence-driven surge – its stock is down almost 60% this year. No surprise, then, that Intel executives are working with advisors from Morgan Stanley and other banks to come up with a turnaround strategy for the company.

Price vs. spending
July’s consumer price index may have been a pleasant surprise, coming in at 2.9% for the year – lower than forecast and the slowest pace since March 2021. But the U.S. Federal Reserve pays more attention to the personal consumption expenditures price index, which comes out Friday. Here’s what to expect.

[PRO] Utilities as an AI play
For investors who want to buy into the AI boom but missed the initial spike, utilities are a natural second option. AI data centers suck up huge amounts of energy, which means energy companies will benefit too. Unfortunately, it seems too late to buy utilities too, according to Morningstar – except for two stocks.

The bottom line

It’s the tragedy of the overachieving child: You’re expected not just to ace every examination, but also excel in extracurricular activities.

So, when you’re just like every other academic genius with perfect grades, that’s merely the baseline you should be hitting.

Such is the plight of Nvidia. Despite posting ridiculous revenue growth numbers that would send any other company’s stock straight into the stratosphere, Nvidia’s shares fell about 6% yesterday.

The culprit: For the company’s fiscal second quarter, revenue rose “only” 122% on an annual basis, compared with three quarters of more than 200% year-over-year growth. The chipmaker’s expected gross margins for the full year were also slightly lower than anticipated.

As Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, wrote, “Death, taxes, and NVDA beats on earnings are three things you can bank on.” In other words, just beating earnings estimates isn’t enough for Nvidia anymore. It’s more about “the size of the beat.”

To be fair, other companies face the same issue too, though perhaps not on the same magnitude as Nvidia.

“When you have 75% or 80% of companies beating their estimates on any given quarter, that tells you it’s not such a special thing anymore,” said Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick. “Beating estimates is no longer a sufficient condition for a post-earnings rally.”

In any case, Nvidia’s loss yesterday may be good for the broader market. Hear me out. Yes, the S&P 500 was mostly unchanged, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.23%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average, buoyed by gains in technology stocks like Apple and Microsoft, added 0.59% for a new record close.

That suggests the tech sector and, indeed, the broader market is relying less on Nvidia for gains. The family, finally, isn’t pinning all its hope on one child.

— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, Kif Leswing, Fred Imbert and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.

Environment

Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

Published

55 mins ago

November 15, 2024

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JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.

JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.

The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.

In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.

In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.

The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:

JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now

JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.

When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:

For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.

Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).

The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.

Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.

Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.

What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?

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Environment

Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

Published

1 hour ago

November 15, 2024

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Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.

The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):

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Environment

Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Market Navigator: Crude oil under pressure

Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.

U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.

Here are Friday’s energy prices:

West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.

The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.

A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.