Rivian Automotive (RIVN:NASDAQ) on Wednesday reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results and said it would lay off 10% of its salaried workforce.
The electric-vehicle startup expects vehicle output to be flat this year, missing analysts’ forecasts. Executives cited tougher market conditions for its electric trucks, including higher interest rates that make monthly vehicle payments pricier.
Rivian like other EV-makers—including auto giants like General Motors (GM:NYSE) and Ford Motor (F:NYSE) —have been dialing back their investment plans, citing slowing sales growth and waning consumer interest. U.S. EV sales rose 47% last year, down from about 70% growth in the previous year.
Rivian shares plummeted 26% Thursday and ended the week 37% lower.
Nvidia extends record run
Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) extending its record run in the continuing AI arms-race.
The chip maker posted another quarter of blockbuster results, driven by the artificial-intelligence frenzy. Nvidia’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings surged more than eightfold from a year earlier. Its sales more than tripled, and the company expects them to do so again in the current period.
As businesses spend massive amounts to build AI systems, demand for the chips that power those systems has soared beyond Nvidia’s manufacturing capacity, leading to long-lasting shortages.
Nvidia shares jumped 16% Thursday, hitting an record high. The stock gained 6.4% for the week.
Jamie Dimon sells 800,000 JP Morgan shares
JPMorgan Chase (JPM:NYSE) CEO Jamie Dimon sold about 800,000 shares of the bank on Thursday, generating about $150 million, according to a securities filing and VerityData.
This is the first time the head of the largest U.S. lender has sold shares since taking charge in 2005.The move appeared to be part of 10b5 plan for corporate executives to sell their stock.
Dimon and his family intend to sell 1 million of their 8.6 million shares, the bank had said in a filing last October. Dimon, one of the longest serving chief executives on Wall Street, has sold off 821,778 shares of the bank so far.
He still owns about 7.7 million shares of JPMorgan, according to VerityData.
Bezos sells 4bn worth of stock
Jeff Bezos is back on the market. For the first time since late 2021, Amazon’s (AMZN:NASDAQ) founder and executive chair has offloaded around $4bn of stock.
Bezos, who stepped down as the Seattle-based company’s chief executive in 2021 but remains executive chair, sold 12mn shares for about $2bn. This followed earlier sales of about 12mn shares, also totalling roughly $2bn, last week, filings show.
Amazon said in February that Bezos — who is among the world’s richest people with a net worth of $190bn, according to Forbes — planned to sell up to 50mn Amazon shares via broker Morgan Stanley by the end of January 2025.
Bezos remains Amazon’s largest shareholder, with a stake of about 9 per cent even after the recent sales,
Reddit plans IPO
The initial public offering of Reddit could take place as soon as next month. The social media platform picked the New York Stock Exchange as the venue for its long-delayed stock market debut
San Francisco-based company first lodged a confidential filing for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in late 2021, but held off going public as tech stocks fell in the face of tough macroeconomic conditions and an advertising slump.
Reddit is aiming to achieve an initial valuation of at least $5bn when it goes public. It was valued at $10bn in its most recent private fundraising in 2021, but private company valuations tumbled in the past two years as interest rates increased.
Carvana’s rebound burns short sellers
The sharp rebound for Carvana (CVNA:NYSE) is burning short-sellers who bet the stock would continue to fall. Shares of the online auto retailer jumped 32% on Friday and are now up more than 50% over the past month.
The latest move higher came after Carvana’s fourth quarter report. The company said its gross profit more than doubled year over year during the quarter, while its net income margin improved but remained negative
The stock was heavily bet against by hedge funds, which are now likely suffering big losses. Carvana shortsellers are now down $591.8 million in losses for 2024 according to a note from at S3 Partners.
Carvana shares ended the week 25% higher