What’s Going On Here?Toyota had plenty on its plate last quarter, sure, but the Japanese carmaker still reported expectation-beating quarterly profits on Wednesday. What Does This Mean?Toyota’s come through this pandemic with far fewer dents than most of its rivals, partly thanks to its strength in markets that have coped relatively well with the coronavirus outbreak – namely those in Asia. And boy is it back swinging: the company announced last month it had regained the top spot as the world’s best-selling carmaker. Toyota’s now feeling so good about its future, in fact, that it decided to up its forecasts for its full-year profit by as much as 50%. Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: The chips are down – way, way down.
General Motors beat analysts’ expectations on Wednesday too, but the American carmaker warned that the microchip shortage could eat into its earnings by $2 billion this year (tweet this). That’s not a unique concern among carmakers: many of them didn’t stock up while they had the chance, and now they’re faced with a rebound in car demand. And given that they can’t necessarily pay as much as cash-rich tech companies can, chipmakers are more likely to drop them to the bottom of the priority list. Not that this affects everyone equally, mind you: Toyota – like most Japanese carmakers – has a bigger-than-average inventory left over.
For you personally: Here comes the next Tesla…?
You can’t talk cars without mentioning electric vehicles (EVs) in the same breath these days. So here’s one of the highest-profile EV startups you might be able to invest in soon: Rivian – which is aiming to put its electric pick-up truck and SUV into production this year – is reportedly thinking about listing on the stock market as soon as September, in what could be one of the biggest IPOs of the year. Better watch your back, Tesla… | 