Manic Monday -- May 6, 2024

Locator: 47077MONDAY.

Investing:

• I'm investing as if the CVX - HES deal won't go through.
• I'm investing as if AAPL will give back all its recent gains and drop back toward support level. [I posted that early this morning. Later today: BRK will keep selling AAPL through calendar year 2024.]

Big investing story today: tech. Huge day for tech!

• Huge! Biggest winner? The bread-and-butter company in the tech sector: Micron.
• Palantir reported today: light guidance; up 3% for the day; holds after hours 

Big earnings story today! WMB.  

Trump headlines: what do these two headlines say to you? Both in same day:

• facing prison sentence
• will expel 200 million migrants

War! Israel moves in on Rafah

• Biden: wait, I'm still finalizing plans to visit Columbia University

Out of touch: former CEO Howard Schultz on Starbucks.
it's no longer about the "store experience"

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Irrational Exuberance: Lucid

1Q24 earnings:

• ticker: up during the day; down after hours
• after-hours earnings call: not as good as expected / hoped for -- but not a washout
• will allow the Prince to hold on for another year
• prior guidance: will deliver 9,000 vehicles this calendar year (2024)
• new guidance: affirming 9,000 
• numbers here
  
• EPS: interestingly enough, not reported in the CNBC story; 
• missed estimates by 22%
• but Benzinga has it; a loss of 30 cents vs estimate of a loss of 25 cents
  
• revenue: $172.7 million vs expectations of $156.99 million -- can we just call it $157 million?
• someone needs to explain how revenue exceed estimate, but estimates missed EPS by a whopping 20%;
  
• negative cash flow: $715 million -- which is almost a billion dollars
• CAPEX:
• 2023: slightly less than $1.0 billion
• 2024: forecast $1.5 billion
  

The question: how long will the Prince accept these losses?

Irrational exuberance: