Bulls, Bitcoin, & Beyond

Market Moves Yesterday

S&P 500 @ 4,868.55 ( ⬆️ 0.081%)

Nasdaq Composite @ 15,481.92 ( ⬆️ 0.36%)

Bitcoin @ $39,888.62 ( ⬆️ 0.29%)

Hey Scoopers,

Happy Thursday! Here’s the line-up for today👇

👉 Tesla falls post Q4 results

👉 Uranium prices might rally

👉 North Korea crypto hacking at all-time highs

Tesla Misses Estimates in Q4

Tesla's shares are down 6% in pre-market trading today after the company announced its Q4 results.

In Q4, Tesla reported:

👉 Revenue of $25.17 billion vs. estimates of $25.6 billion

👉 Adjusted earnings of $0.71 per share vs. estimates of $0.74 per share

Tesla’s revenue rose just 3% year over year to $24.3 billion in Q4. Its operating margin narrowed to 8.2% in Q4, compared to 16% in the year-ago period.

Automotive sales rose 1% due to a steep fall in average selling prices following price cuts in the second half of 2023.

In the company’s investor presentation, Tesla emphasized volume growth in 2024 will be lower than last year due to sluggish consumer demand.

Tesla also began selling Cybertrucks to customers in Q4 of 2023. Given its manufacturing complexity, the EV giant expects the ramp-up in production for the Cybertruck to be longer than that of other models.

Tesla can build roughly 125,000 Cybertrucks each year, which is not expected to move the needle in terms of revenue or earnings in the near term. However, Musk hopes to sell a quarter-million Cybertrucks a year at scale.

Tesla’s automotive revenue in 2023 rose 15% year over year to $82.42 billion. Its much smaller energy division saw its top line grow by 54% to $6.04 billion.

The energy business sells solar energy generation and energy storage systems. Further, Tesla’s “Services and Other” revenue rose 37% to $8.32 billion in 2023.

Profit margins expected to remain under pressure

Due to a massive decline in profits, Tesla’s operating income fell to $2.1 billion in Q4. Alternatively, Tesla increased spending on research and development to $1.1 billion in Q4, up from $810 million last year.

Tesla’s adjusted earnings have fallen over 23% in 2023, and the stock is priced at 65x forward earnings, which is very expensive for a company struggling to grow sales or profits.

Legacy automobile manufacturers such as Ford are priced at a much lower price-to-earnings multiple of 6.8x.

Due to its deteriorating financials, Tesla stock is still down 50% from all-time highs.

Why Uranium Prices Could Rally?

The uranium renaissance has hit a slight glitch. Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of uranium, is staring at a production snag over the next 24 months.

Kazatomprom is a Kazak-based mining company accounting for more than 20% of global production, while Kazakhstan produces 43% of the world’s total supply.

Uranium is an essential material used in the production of nuclear power. Its demand has soared in recent years as governments are looking to move away from fossil fuels while reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Around 60 nuclear power reactors are under construction in 17 countries, and another 110 are in the planning stages, primarily in Asia.

At the COP28 climate change conference, more than 60 countries backed a plant more than triple the global renewable energy capacity by 2030, a key driver for nuclear energy.

Uranium prices have surged to a 16-year high, trading at $106 per pound, and might move higher given the undersupply of the yellowcake.

North Korean Hackers Target Crypto Platforms

A Chainalysis report stated that North Korean hackers attacked a record number of crypto platforms in 2023.

Data collected in the last seven years showed that hackers from the state of Kim Jong Un hacked 20 crypto platforms in 2023, the highest level recorded since 2016.

These hackers stole over $1 billion worth of crypto assets last year, lower than the $1.7 billion stolen in 2022.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, after which it was slapped with several United Nations sanctions, limiting its ability to access traditional sources of funding to support nuclear activities.

Headlines You Can’t Miss!

FAA halts Boeing 737 Max production expansion

IBM shares gain post Q4 earnings

Nasdaq and S&P 500 close higher for fifth straight day

U.S. GDP forecast to increase by 2% in Q4

SEC crackdown on crypto rose by 46% in 2023

Chart of The Day

The majority of people work to lead a comfortable life in retirement. But how do you ensure you have enough to retire comfortably?

Well, first, you need to save at least 10% to 15% of your total income earned each year. Second, you must invest these savings in asset classes that beat inflation over time.

While you can hold money in a savings account, it is not a good strategy for you to generate wealth in the long term.

As seen above, an investment of $100 in a savings account ten years back would be worth just $138 today, indicating annual returns of just 3.38%.

Comparatively, a $100 investment in the S&P 500 would have ballooned to $259 in this period, indicating annual returns of 10%.

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.