Good Evening! Wall Street considered the impact of hotter-than-anticipated January inflation figures on the future direction of interest rates, which led to a mixed outcome for U.S. equities on Tuesday afternoon.
The S&P 500 closed barely below the breakeven threshold (0.03%), while the Dow Jones declined by 0.46%. The Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.57%.
STARTING THE YEAR OFF STRONG
The data analysis business co-founded by Peter Thiel, Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), reported its first profitable quarter in the fourth quarter and anticipates its first profitable year in 2023.
- Revenue: $508.6 Million vs. $505.1 Million Expected
- Earnings Per Share: $0.01 vs. ($0.03) Expected
Background on the company. The Denver-based corporation has provided data analysis tools to the US government and its allies for the last two decades, notoriously avoiding doing business with China and other nations deemed American adversaries. In recent years, it has also made a strong effort to expand its commercial operations, partnering with Airbus SE, Merck & Co., and Ferrari, among others.
Props to the company! The firm is emerging from a terrible 2022, during which its shares lost over two-thirds of their value. After recovering a portion of these losses in 2023, Palantir is currently up 44% Year-to-Date.
A HEAD START TO BEING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
Ford (F) stated today that it is pausing manufacturing and shipments of its F-150 Lightning electric truck due to a probable battery problem, dealing a blow to the company’s increasing EV aspirations.
Luckily… Ford said that it is unaware of any incidences or problems originating from this possible issue with previously-sold vehicles and that it is not sending a “stop-sale”instruction to dealers regarding F-150 Lightnings currently on dealer lots and certified for delivery.
What does this mean going forward? Investors are very concerned about any delays in Ford’s EV rollout and execution plan as the firm strives to shift into an EV-first corporation. Especially considering that the firm only just signed an agreement yesterday (Click here to read about it!) with CATL to manufacture new LFP batteries at a new factory in Michigan.
