Good Evening! On Friday, stocks achieved a narrow triumph as the main indexes secured their third consecutive win for the week. This happened as Wall Street processed retail reports and the decline in oil prices, which were both influenced by signs of an economic slowdown.
There were low gains across the board, with the S&P 500 increasing by 0.13%, while the Nasdaq was only up by 0.08%. The Dow Jones barely got above green by 0.01%.
THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS
ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT) saw a significant decline in its stock value on Friday after the release of preliminary third-quarter results and the announcement of the departure of its CEO and CFO.
ChargePoint revised its revenue forecast downward for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024, which concluded on October 31, 2023. The previous forecast had a midpoint of $157.5 million. However, the company’s current sales range is $108 million to $113 million. Furthermore, it will incur a non-cash impairment charge of $42 million, with further information to be disclosed in its comprehensive report on December 6th.
It does not stop there… In addition to the existing negative news, ChargePoint has announced the immediate replacement of its CEO with Rick Wilmer, who formerly held the position of chief operating officer, starting from July 2022. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) departed, and a temporary CFO was appointed.
But wait, there’s more! The firm is now encountering more challenges and obstacles than ever before. EV demand growth has not only decelerated, but ChargePoint is now seeing a formidable new rival from the EV industry leader, Tesla. Tesla has made its second agreement in a month to directly sell its high-speed charging equipment to a third party, making them direct competitors.
IT IS NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR TEXAS
Texans are now in danger of experiencing blackouts throughout the winter due to strong storms since the state’s power infrastructure has failed to get an extra power supply that would effectively mitigate this hazard.
How bad is it? According to a statement released on Friday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) received just 11.1 megawatts of proposals from users who committed to reducing their electricity consumption during periods of high demand. According to an announcement on October 2nd, the grid operator was attempting to get a maximum of 3,000 megawatts from December through February. This amount of energy is generally sufficient to provide electricity to around 600,000 households.
What is being done? Ercot issued an urgent plea for more energy to prevent an “unacceptable” likelihood of a power crisis under severe circumstances. Because as of right now… Ercot anticipates a surge in demand to reach a new winter record due to a sudden drop in temperature. In January 2024, Ercot predicts a 21% likelihood of a grid emergency and an approximately 17% possibility of rolling blackouts in the event of severe weather in Texas at roughly 8 a.m. local time, which is considered the riskiest hour.