🚗 Tesla misses earnings, promises cheaper cars

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Good morning investors! Earnings season is now in full swing and it’s offering some major surprises.

Today we cover:

• New homes are in demand.

• Tesla misses earnings.

• GM, PepsiCo. and more report.

📊 Economy and News 

New homes are still in demand

Sales of newly built single-family homes in the United States soared in March despite mortgage rates remaining elevated that month.

New home sales, which make up about 10% of the market, jumped 8.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 693,000.

That trounced the 670,000 rate projected by economists, and was the strongest monthly increase since December 2022.

Sales of new homes increased across the country last month, rising the most in the Northeast region by a robust 27.8% from February.

Meanwhile, sales of existing homes, which make up the vast majority of the housing market, fell 4.3% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million, the sharpest drop in more than a year.

What’s ahead? The broader US housing market is expected to remain tough for Americans, with mortgage rates poised to stay well above 6% this year.

Global hits:

• Huawei sales are soaring in China as Apple sinks.

• Express files for bankruptcy; closing more than 100 stores.

• FTC votes to ban most employers from using noncompete clauses.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 5,070.55 (+1.20%)
DJIA 38,503.69 (+0.69%)
NASDAQ 17,471.47 (+1.51%)
BRENT CRUDE 88.43 (+1.88%)
* Prices as of Apr 24th, 12:20 AM UTC

Tesla misses expectations, promises cheaper cars

Tesla reported a 9% drop in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, the biggest decline since 2012, and missed analysts’ estimates, as the electric vehicle company weathers the impact of ongoing price cuts.

Here are the results.

• Earnings per share: 45 cents adjusted vs. 51 cents per share expected by LSEG

• Revenue: $21.30 billion vs. $22.15 billion expected by LSEG

Revenue declined from $23.33 billion a year earlier and from $25.17 billion in the fourth quarter. Net income dropped 55% to $1.13 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $2.51 billion, or 73 cents a share, a year ago.

Tesla's automotive revenue dropped by 13% year-over-year to $17.34 billion in the first three months of 2024, marking a steeper decline than the company's previous drop in 2020. In 2020, the decline was attributed to disrupted production during the Covid pandemic.

Future: Tesla reiterated a pessimistic outlook for 2024, telling investors that “volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023.”

Also, Tesla is planning to put new models into production in the second half of 2025 — including more affordable models that were previously reported to be canceled.

More earnings are here:

• PepsiCo: PepsiCo beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. Volume and sales growth were better in most international markets than in its North America segments. In its home market, product recalls and weaker demand from lower-income consumers hurt sales.

• General Motors: General Motors on Tuesday raised its 2024 guidance after beating Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations for the first quarter. GM’s North American operations, driven by truck sales, were largely responsible for the company’s first-quarter beat and guidance raise, the automaker said. GM said revenue during the first three months of this year was up 7.6% from roughly $40 billion a year earlier.

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🔐 Crypto

Bitcoin $66,335 (-0.68%)
Ethereum $3,217 (-0.01%)
Total market cap $2.44T (-0.83%)
* Prices as of Apr 24th, 12:20 AM UTC

A look at crypto

ETFs that hold Ethereum's ether (ETH) are unlikely to be approved in May, Standard Chartered said in a report.

Also, the bank reiterated its end-of-year bitcoin price target of $150,00 and its ether target of $8,000.

This comes at a time when Bitcoin is starting to recover and SEC has delayed Franklin Templeton and Grayscale spot Ethereum ETFs among others.

Lastly, crypto lobbyists have filed lawsuit against SEC on ‘dealer’ definition and Ripple Labs has opposed the SEC’s proposal seeking a nearly $2 billion fine against the company.

💵 Personal Finance

Use AI to make money – Part IV

Here’s another great way to benefit from AI and make money:

Train AI tools

Do you know it is possible to earn money training AI tools with some platforms offering over $80 per hour for your services?

Called data annotation, it is the process of labeling individual elements of training data (whether text, images, audio, or video) to help machines understand what exactly is in it and what is important. This annotated data is then used for model training.

If you ever wonder how AI is able to do its job so well, it’s because there are thousands of people training it. You can be that person as well. Platforms like Appen, Labellerr, DataLoop, and RemoTasks are on the lookout for talented individuals for these jobs.

In most cases, you don’t even need experience to get a good job. But, higher paying jobs usually require skills. Coders, for example, earn between $50 and $80 per hour.

💰 Be a Better Investor

👩🏽‍⚖️ Legal Stuff
Nothing in this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research and think for yourself.

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