Stocks on Wall Street closed their last trading session of 2021 lower on Friday, closing a record year despite risks related to the Federal Reserve's tightening path and the ongoing COVID health crisis.
The coming week is expected to be busier than usual, with all eyes on Friday, plus the release of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting also on the agenda.
No matter which direction the market goes as we start the new year, we've highlighted one stock that is likely to be in demand in the coming days and another that could suffer new losses.
Remember, however, that our timetable is for the coming week only. (NASDAQ:) shares look set to start the new year where they left off as the electric vehicle maker will report record fourth-quarter deliveries. In the third quarter, Tesla hit $13.76 billion, slightly below analyst estimates, but EPS rose to $1.86, beating the $1.62 estimate.
While the Elon Musk-led company usually reveals all-important numbers on the second day of a quarter—regardless of weekends—it's possible they could arrive Monday morning due to the New Year's holiday.
The EV pioneer company is expected to have shipped 276,900 vehicles in the three months ending December, an improvement of nearly 15% from the previous quarter and a 53% increase from the same period last year.
That includes 261,400 Model 3 and Y vehicles and 15,500 Model S and X vehicles, with sales soaring despite pandemic supply chain problems and a global chip shortage.
If confirmed, the Q4 numbers would set a new record for the world's most valuable automaker. The previous peak was reached in the third quarter of 2021, when Tesla delivered 241,300 vehicles.
Additionally, the EV maker — which recently relocated its headquarters from Palo Alto, California in Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas — will also release full-year delivery figures. After shipping a total of 499,550 vehicles in 2020, analysts expect Tesla to report annual deliveries north of 900,000 units for 2021.
TSLA shares ended Friday's session at $1,056.78, about 15% below their all-time high of $1,243.49 on Nov. 4, giving the EV company a market cap of $1.06 trillion.
By current valuations, Tesla is the world's largest automaker, surpassing names such as Toyota (NYSE:), Daimler (OTC:), General Motors (NYSE:), Honda (NYSE:) and Ford (NYSE: 🙂 .
Stock To Dump: Didi Global
After a 65% decline in 2021, shares of Didi Global (NYSE:), the largest ride-hailing company in China, appears to be under pressure as investors worry about the continued impact of several negative factors haunting the tech company, often referred to as the “Uber of China.”
DIDI shares – which are down nearly 35% over the past month – fell to an all-time low of $4.74 on Friday, before closing the session at $4.98. It is now more than 70% below its all-time high of $16.89 on July 1
At current levels, the Beijing-based ride-sharing service, which made its debut on the NYSE on June 30 after going public at $14 a share, has a market cap of approximately $24 billion.
Sentiment about the out-of-favour name has been dealt a blow as investors dumped Chinese technology stocks as a result of an ongoing months-long campaign by the Chinese authorities to curb the influence of the country's thriving internet companies.
Indeed, Didi – co-founded in 2012 by former Alibaba (NYSE:) employee Will Wei Cheng and backed by SoftBank Group (OTC 🙂 – reported dismal third-quarter financial numbers last week, hurt by declining revenues and higher regulation costs related to handling customer data.
The ruling Communist Party of China has imposed severe restrictions on Didi in response to its decision to hold her IPO in New York earlier last year, ordering the ride-announcing giant to remove its app from online app stores.
Finally, Didi announced in December that it would delist from the NYSE and instead pursue listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a move aimed at appeasing Chinese regulators. According to reports, Didi aims to apply for the Hong Kong list by the end of April and by June.
