WeRide has a long way to go. WeRide is running a test service in the United Arab Emirates but despite a pretty high placing in the California DMV data, experiencing it makes it very clear that it still has a long way to go. WeRide is a Chinese autonomous driving start-up that has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Department of...
Exiting miners hammer Nvidia’s numbers Nvidia issued a warning on its Q3 2022 performance as the crypto crash and subsequent winter have hammered demand for graphics cards that are used for mining crypto currency. Q2 2022 revenue / gross margins will be $6.7bn / 43.7% (+/- 50bp) a very far cry from guidance of $8.10bn / 65.1% and consensus which...
Baidu’s vehicles are not really driverless. Baidu, like Waymo and Cruise, has received a license to operate “driverless” vehicles on Chinese roads but the reality is that just because there is no one in the driver’s seat does not mean that there is no driver. Baidu now has permission to operate vehicles with no humans in the vehicle in Wuhan...
Recovery is completely tied to the economy. A depressing set of results met with relief by the market is a sign that all of the downside is priced into the stock paving the way for a steady, but probably slow recovery that is going to take some time. FQ1 2023 revenues / EPS were RMB205.6bn / RMB1.06 just ahead of...
Negative gross margins must be fixed at all costs. Lucid Motors reported awful Q2 2022 results as it suffers from negative gross margins and remains unable to fulfil the demand that it has making the stock look even more overvalued than it already is. Q2 2022 revenues / EPS were $97.3m / LOSS$0.33 way below estimates of $157.1m / LOSS$0.41...
Airbnb Q2 2022 – Great company, bad stock. Airbnb reported good results and cash flow but concerns around growth hit sentiment which has obviously prompted the company to announce a buyback to prop up the shares. Q2 2022 revenue / EPS were $2.1bn / $0.56 pretty much in line with guidance of $2.1bn / $0.43. Bookings rose by 25% to...
Storm in a teacup. The SEC has added Alibaba to its list of Chinese companies that will be delisted in 2024 in a move that in my opinion is really just part of a negotiation that will end up with Chinese companies staying listed in the USA should they so desire. Nonetheless, Alibaba’s share price has tanked again on the...
AlphaFold almost fulfils its promise. DeepMind has expanded a crucial biological database by 200x confirming that an entire branch of scientific enquiry is now virtually obsolete. AlphaFold is DeepMind’s algorithm that is capable of predicting the physical structure of proteins based purely on their amino acid sequence which was interesting in 2018 (see here), impressive in 2020 (see here) and...
Amazon Q2 2022 – Good. Amazon reported good results and guidance as AWS and its on-site advertising business supported softness in its biggest business and are expected to enhance e-commerce to allow growth to go back to 10% YoY from Q3 2022. Q2 2022 revenues / EPS were $121.2bn / LOSS$0.20 compared to forecasts $119.2bn / $0.12. The losses include...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Unity – Love triangle
Two is a company, three is a crowd. AppLovin, a marketing and monetisation toolkit for app developers has offered to acquire Unity in a deal that looks defensive as it fears both the impact of greater vertical integration and the digital advertising slowdown on its ability to compete. AppLovin has both a set of marketing tools and a suite of...