Market news & insights

It was positive start to a new week for the Chinese electric vehicle company, NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO), after it announced a $2.2 billion strategic investment from an Abu Dhabi based investment firm CYVN Holdings on Monday. The deal is expected to be completed in the last week of December and it will make CYVN a major shareholder in the company with a 20.1% stake. ''Our increased investment in NIO represents a continuation of our ongoing strategy to build a leading global portfolio in the mobility space,'' Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman and Managing Director of CYVN Holdings said in press release. ''This transaction demonstrates our confidence in NIO’s unique positioning and competitiveness in the global smart EV industry. We are excited to be a long-term strategic partner of NIO and support its efforts in product innovation, technological breakthroughs and international market expansion,'' Al Zaabi added.

William Li, CEO of NIO, also commented on the latest investment, highlighting the importance of the deal for the company: 'We are deeply inspired by CYVN’s vision to accelerate the global transition to a more sustainable future, and we appreciate its endorsement of NIO’s unique values. With the enhanced balance sheet, NIO is well prepared to sharpen brand positioning, bolster sales and service capabilities, and make long-term investment in core technologies to navigate the intensifying competitive landscape, while continually improving execution efficiency and system capabilities.' Company overview Founded: November 2014 Headquarters: Shanghai, China Number of employees: 20,000+ (2023) Industry: Automotive Key people: William Li (CEO), Lihong Qin (President), Wei Feng (CFO) Stock reaction The stock was initially up by around 11% in pre-market trading on Monday as the latest news were released. Shares were up by 4.64% at the of the day, trading at $8.35 a share – the highest level since 17/10/23.

Stock performance 1 month: +6.99% 3 months: -19.06% Year-to-date: -14.41% 1 year: -24.55% NIO stock price targets Deutsche Bank: $16 CMB International Securities: $9.20 UBS: $15 Daiwa: $11.80 HSBC: $12 Mizuho: $18 Bank of America: $15 JP Morgan: $10.50 Citigroup: $19.20 NIO Inc. is the 1130th largest and 5th largest electric vehicle company in the world with a market cap of $15.10 billion. You can trade NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.

Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps.

Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: NIO Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap

Chinese electric vehicle company, NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO), reported Q3 results before the opening bell in the US on Tuesday. Company overview Founded: November 2014 Headquarters: Shanghai, China Number of employees: 20,000+ (2023) Industry: Automotive Key people: William Li (CEO), Lihong Qin (President), Wei Feng (CFO) The results NIO reported revenue of $2.611 billion for the previous quarter, narrowly missing analyst estimate of $2.634 billion. Revenue was up by 46.6% year-over-year and up by 117.4% from Q2 2022.

The company reported loss per share of -$0.312 for Q3, which was below analyst estimate of -$0.351 loss per share. NIO delivered 55,432 cars during the quarter, setting a new quarterly record. CEO commentary "NIO delivered 55,432 vehicles in the third quarter of 2023, representing a solid year-over-year growth of 75.4% and setting a new record for quarterly delivery," William Li, CEO of NIO said in a statement. "According to the retail sales data from China Automotive Technology and Research Center, NIO ranked first in the battery electric vehicle market segment priced over RMB300,000 in China, with a market share of 45% in the third quarter of 2023," Li highlighted NIO’s position in the market. "We have recently completed a thorough review of the Company’s two-year operating plans to determine our objectives, priorities, and action plans.

Meanwhile, we have identified opportunities to optimize our organization, reduce costs and enhance efficiency. Our focus remains on advancing core technologies, developing key products, and expanding sales and service capabilities. We are confident in NIO's long-term competitiveness in the smart electric vehicle market," Li concluded.

Stock reaction Shares of NIO were up by over 3% on Tuesday, trading at around $7.55 a share. Stock performance 1 month: -3.36% 3 months: -29.46% Year-to-date: -21.79% 1 year: -42.41% NIO stock price targets Deutsche Bank: $16 CMB International Securities: $9.20 UBS: $15 Daiwa: $11.80 HSBC: $12 Mizuho: $18 Bank of America: $15 JP Morgan: $10.50 Citigroup: $19.20 NIO Inc. is the 1200th largest and 6th largest electric vehicle company in the world with a market cap of $13.5 billion. You can trade NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.

GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?

Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: NIO Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap

World’s 4th largest construction company, Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN), released its fourth quarter and full-year of fiscal 2023 financial results after the market close on Wall Street on Thursday. Company overview Founded: 1954 Headquarters: Waterford District, unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida (Miami, Florida postal address) Number of employees: 12,012 (2022) Industry: Construction Key people: Stuart Miller (Executive Chairman, co-CEO), Jon Jaffe (co-CEO, President), Fred Rothman (COO) The results The US company reported revenue of $10.968 billion (an increase of 7.8% year-over-year) vs. $10.228 billion expected. Earnings per share (EPS) reached $4.82 per share for the quarter that ended on 30/11/2023 vs. $4.592 per share estimate.

EPS was up by 5.93% from the same period the year prior. Total revenue reached $34.2 billion for the fiscal year 2023 – up by 1.67% year-over-year. EPS was reported at $13.73 per share – down by 12.65% from 2022.

CEO commentary "We are pleased to report another strong quarter and year end, against the backdrop of evolving, though constructive, market conditions. During our fourth quarter, the economic environment shifted as interest rates rose for most of the quarter, and then subsided. Higher interest rates tested homebuyer sentiment, although purchasers remained responsive to incentives that enabled affordability.

The well documented production deficit and chronic supply shortage continued to result in housing demand outweighing short supply. These conditions remained constructive for our overall operating strategy of focusing on production and sales pace over price, generating strong cash flow, increasing returns on equity and assets, and driving a strong bottom line," co-CEO of Lennar commented on the latest results in a letter to investors and challenges for the company. Jon Jadde, co-CEO of the company pointed out some of the achievements from the fourth quarter and looked ahead of what the company expects to achieve moving forward: "Operationally, our starts in the fourth quarter were 18,378, up 43% year over year, our new orders were 17,366, up 32%, and our deliveries of 23,795 were up 19%.

We are clearly moving closer to an even flow operating model as we are now expecting approximately 18,500 starts, 18,000 new orders, and 17,000 deliveries in the first quarter of 2024. We expect more consistent results through the year as our cycle time is normalizing and was down 24% year over year as the improving supply chain and labor market positively impacted our production times and our inventory turn improved to 1.5 times reflecting broader efficiencies. Concurrently, the Lennar Machine continued to carefully match sales pace using our digital marketing and dynamic pricing models to keep production pace and sales pace closely matched." Stock reaction Shares of Lennar were up by 6.65% at the end of the trading session on Thursday, trading at $154.81 a share.

The stock price dipped by around 2% in the after-hours trading as the results were announced. Stock performance 1 month: +21.22% 3 months: +30.88% Year-to-date: +70.22% 1 year: +63.38% Costco stock price targets Barclays: $165 Jefferies Financial Group: $117 Wells Fargo: $130 JP Morgan: $135 JMP Securities: $150 Citigroup: $139 Royal Bank of Canada: $114 UBS Group: $159 Evercore ISI: $164 Wedbush: $123 Goldman Sachs: $142 Lennar Corporation is the 29th largest company in the world with a market cap of $281.37 billion. You can trade Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.

GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?

Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Lennar Corporation, TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap

On Monday, Citigroup raised its target price for the Irish multinational conglomerate, Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE: JCI), from $58 to $61 a share. On Tuesday, Johnson Controls announced its latest financial results for its fiscal fourth 2023. Let’s see how it performed.

Company overview Founded: 1885 Headquarters: Cork, Ireland Number of employees: 102,000 (2022) Industry: Conglomerate Key people: George Oliver (Chairman, CEO) The results Johnson Controls reported revenue of $6.906 billion for the quarter (up by 3% year-over-year), which missed analyst estimate of $7.099 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) also fell short of estimates at $1.05 per share (up by 6% year-over-year) vs. $1.095 per share expected. CEO commentary "Our fiscal 2023 results, highlighted by strong sales growth and margin expansion, further validate that our strategy of providing solutions that make buildings smarter, healthier, and more sustainable continues to gain momentum," George Oliver, CEO of Johnson Controls said in a letter to investors. "We made significant progress during the year advancing our service strategy, enabled by digital, and we continue to see strong order momentum and record backlog entering our new fiscal year," Oliver added.

Stock reaction The stock was down by over 6% during the trading day on Tuesday, trading at $52.63 a share. Stock performance 1 month: -0.58% 3 months: -9.06% Year-to-date: -18.54% 1 year: -21.70% Johnson Controls International stock price targets Citigroup: $61 Oppenheimer: $66 UBS Group: $74 Wells Fargo: $62 HSBC: $69 Morgan Stanley: $70 Barclays: $64 JP Morgan: $72 Deutsche Bank: $65 Mizuho: $78 Bank of America: $72 Johnson Controls International plc is the 507th largest company in the world with a market cap of $35.89 billion. You can trade Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE: JCI) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.

GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?

Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Johnson Controls International plc, TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap

FX traders have some tier one data releases to look forward to today, including the last major central bank meeting in the form of the Bank of Japan. RBA monetary policy minutes and Canadian CPI also having market moving potential. AUDUSD The Aussie was modestly in the green in Monday’s session after initial strength that saw it outperform G10 rivals in the European morning faded later in the session.

AUDUSD supported by further PBoC liquidity and a firmer Yuan fix early on. A mixed risk sentiment in the US session saw it hit resistance at the 4-monthth highs of 0.6735 and reversing course to a low of 0.6690. RBA minutes released at 11:30 AEDT have the potential to see an RBA pushback against the market’s view that rates have definitely peaked, lending a tailwind to the Aussie.

USDCAD USDCAD edged higher in Monday’s session but held near its four month lows, rising oil prices amid heightened Red Sea tensions tempering losses in CAD with traders awaiting today’s CPI inflation data. Economists expect the Canadian CPI to show inflation slowing to an annual rate of 2.9% in November from 3.1% in October. The Bank of Canada has left the door open to further rate hikes, so this reading will be a pivotal one to test that narrative.

USDJPY The much anticipated Bank of Japan could see some big swings in JPY as investors look for clues as to when the central bank foresees the end to its easy money policies. Bank officials have recently pushed back against rate hike expectations for this meeting. But with traders pricing in the end of negative rates in January, the language at this meeting will be key for the short-term performance of the yen.

A hawkish surprise could push USDJPY towards the 140 handle, an unchanged message could bring the cross back up to the 145 level.

USD bounced back to start the first full week of December after a horror run in November where the Dollar Index (DXY) fell around 3%. DXY breaking through the 200 Day SMA resistance and printing a high of 103.850. Sour risk sentiment and higher treasury yields (particularly in the short end) helping DXY erase the Powell inspired drop on Friday.

With the Fed having entered their blackout period ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting (meaning no Fed member jawboning) data this week will take on extra importance with USD traders particularly watching Services PMI data today and the NFP jobs report on Friday. AUD and NZD were the G10 underperformers, a strong USD and a broad risk-off backdrop the main drivers rather than anything specific to the currencies. AUDUSD was looking to test the 0.67 resistance early in the session before reversing course to test the support at 0.66 before finding some buyers.

Aussie traders have the December RBA meeting to navigate, with the Central Bank widely expected (95% chance according to futures) to keep rates unchanged. What AUD trader will be watching is for any change of language in the accompanying statement with regards to futures hikes, will the RBA leave the door ajar, wide open or shut it completely? Expect some volatility in the AUD as traders race to work that part out at announcement time.