>>> Facebook target lowered to $138 and Alphabet (GOOG) target lowered to $1040

Facebook target lowered to $138 and Alphabet (GOOG) target lowered to $1040 at Pivotal Research Group (159.79)
  • Pivotal Research Group lowers their FB tgt to $138 from $152 and their GOOG tgt to $1040 from $1110. Firm notes that ahead of 1Q18 earnings we update our price targets and review current thoughts on the use of data in digital advertising. They reviewed some potential implications for Facebook and Google in particular and updated price targets for both of those companies. New price targets reflect higher costs of capital due primarily to the higher risk-free rates used in their models. Their recommendations are unchanged (with Alphabet Hold-rated and Facebook Sell rated) with price targets reduced. Their Facebook price target is reduced by more than its peers, to $138 vs. $152 previously to reflect incremental deceleration in revenue growth towards the end of 2018 and generally higher costs than previously incorporated in our models

(Nikkei) 'No way' Nissan can accept a merger with Renault

'No way' Nissan can accept a merger with Renault, executive says Japanese automaker on the alert for French government interference 
TAKESHI SHIRAISHI and TOGO SHIRAISHI, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO/PARIS -- Nissan Motor is growing wary of its top shareholder, Renault. The French government, Renault's largest shareholder, is pressuring its carmaker to integrate the two companies' operations.
The French government owns 15.01% of Renault, which has a 43.4 percent stake in Nissan. Nissan, in turn, owns 15% of Renault. 
The Japanese automaker wants to maintain independence and now perceives Carlos Ghosn, who serves as chairman of both companies, as beginning to side with the French government.
According to sources, the French government is talking to financial institutions about how it might be able to get the two companies to integrate their operations.
The sources said recent reports about a potential Renault-Nissan merger that non-Japanese news outlets ran may be part of the French government's strategy to bring the companies together ahead of Renault's general shareholders meeting in mid-June.
Although Nissan's management is open to suggestions for further collaboration, "there is no way" it can accept a merger or business integration, a Nissan executive said.
The French government has shown it would like to influence Nissan and get it to help France's industry grow. But in December 2015, Paris agreed with the two companies that it would not interfere with Nissan's management. At the same time, it acknowledged that Nissan has the right to increase its stake in Renault in response to any unwanted interference in Nissan's management decisions.
This gives Nissan a means to fight back. If Nissan were to increase its stake in the partner to 25% or higher, then the voting rights on the shareholdings Renault has in Nissan would be nullified under the provisions of Japan's Companies Act.
Ghosn fended off the French government's interference when he was Nissan's chief executive officer, a post he vacated in April 2017. The French government is now reportedly pressuring Ghosn by demanding that he rejuvenate Renault's management. In other words, it is suggesting that Ghosn remove himself as CEO.
Paris has also reportedly imposed a number of conditions on Ghosn that he must meet if he is to keep his post.
Ghosn's recent comments and actions have indicated sympathy toward the French government's stance, and Nissan is now on the alert.
Should Renault bring Nissan, which has many core automaking technologies, under its control, the Japanese government could be irked.
In the past, Ghosn pointed out that any significant change in the capital relationship between Nissan and Renault would need the approval of both the Japanese and French governments

>>> TESLA - News & Research Update

* Baird
Baird Reiterates TSLA with Outperform, price target: $411
- Firm remains buyers into pressure as Model 3 production ramps
- Firm lowers their estimates to reflect the minor margin impact of the recall

* Jefferies
Jefferies Raised TSLA to Hold from Underperform, price target: $250

* Tesla May Stop ‘Getting a Pass’ for Missing Targets, RBC Says

* Barron's
Cautious on TSLA: Some investors question whether the automaker can raise enough cash to keep going—but it should eventually improve Model 3 production and get past its current problems.


Confirms that Autopilot was engaged during fatal crash on March 23rd; driver got visual and audible warnings; says severity of crash was due to a missing highway safety barrier

In the moments before the collision, which occurred at 9:27 a.m. on Friday, March 23rd, Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum. The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision. The driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken.

The reason this crash was so severe is because the crash attenuator, a highway safety barrier which is designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, had been crushed in a prior accident without being replaced. We have never seen this level of damage to a Model X in any other crash.

Over a year ago, our first iteration of Autopilot was found by the U.S. government to reduce crash rates by as much as 40%. Internal data confirms that recent updates to Autopilot have improved system reliability. In the US, there is one automotive fatality every 86 million miles across all vehicles from all manufacturers. For Tesla, there is one fatality, including known pedestrian fatalities, every 320 million miles in vehicles equipped with Autopilot hardware. If you are driving a Tesla equipped with Autopilot hardware, you are 3.7 times less likely to be involved in a fatal accident.

Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur. It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists.

>>> TESLA - News & Research Update

* Baird
Baird Reiterates TSLA with Outperform, price target: $411
- Firm remains buyers into pressure as Model 3 production ramps
- Firm lowers their estimates to reflect the minor margin impact of the recall

* Jefferies
Jefferies Raised TSLA to Hold from Underperform, price target: $250

* Barron's
Cautious on TSLA: Some investors question whether the automaker can raise enough cash to keep going—but it should eventually improve Model 3 production and get past its current problems.


Confirms that Autopilot was engaged during fatal crash on March 23rd; driver got visual and audible warnings; says severity of crash was due to a missing highway safety barrier

In the moments before the collision, which occurred at 9:27 a.m. on Friday, March 23rd, Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum. The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision. The driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken.

The reason this crash was so severe is because the crash attenuator, a highway safety barrier which is designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, had been crushed in a prior accident without being replaced. We have never seen this level of damage to a Model X in any other crash.

Over a year ago, our first iteration of Autopilot was found by the U.S. government to reduce crash rates by as much as 40%. Internal data confirms that recent updates to Autopilot have improved system reliability. In the US, there is one automotive fatality every 86 million miles across all vehicles from all manufacturers. For Tesla, there is one fatality, including known pedestrian fatalities, every 320 million miles in vehicles equipped with Autopilot hardware. If you are driving a Tesla equipped with Autopilot hardware, you are 3.7 times less likely to be involved in a fatal accident.

Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur. It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists.

(ZH) Where Volkswagen Cars Go To Die

Where Volkswagen Cars Go To Die

An aging football stadium in Michigan. A decrepit paper mill in Minnesota. A sun-bleached patch of desert in California.

These are the lots where Volkswagen is storing the hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles that included software to help them cheat US emissions testing as the company races to buyback a huge chunk of its inventory ahead of a deadline agreed to as part of its settlement with the US government, per Reuters.


Under the terms of its landmark settlement with the US government, if 85% of the 500,000 cars VW promised to repurchase haven't been bought back or fixed by then, the company will face higher punitive payments.
Luckily for VW, the company says it has already repurchased 83% of these vehicles.

Back in 2015, the company admitted to one of the biggest corporate scandals of the millennium: Installing software in its diesel cars to cheat US emissions test.
The company later pleaded guilty to several felonies, agreed to three years probation, an paid more than $4 billion in fines.
Meanwhile, it was also required to buy back any car that had been affected by its strategy.
According to a court filing, as of Dec. 31, Volkswagen had repurchased 335,000 diesel vehicles, resold 13,000 and destroyed about 28,000 vehicles.
As of the end of last year, VW was storing 294,000 vehicles around the country. The company has sent more than 400,000 letters offering buybacks and reimbursements.

>>> Barron's : Barrons weekend update: cautious cover story on Facebook; positiv

Barrons weekend update: cautious cover story on Facebook; positive feature on TWX; cautious on DBX

* Cover story: FB faces a consumer and investor backlash in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal; “With more than two billions users, Facebook is a top target for privacy concerns, and it’s almost certain that the company will not walk away unscathed”; its challenge will be how quickly and effectively it can change.

* Features: 1) Cautious on FB: Shares look tempting after a recent drop, but investors must determine whether the potential backlash against Facebook’s privacy problems is already priced in; 2) Barron’s 2018 list of Best Online Brokers is topped by IBKR, Fidelity, AMTD, SCHW, and TradeStation; 3) Positive on TWX: As the Time-Warner/T antitrust trial gets under way, the media giant’s shares look appealing based on their underlying value and the telecom’s strong chances of winning approval for the deal; 4) Cautious on DBX: “Despite its spectacular debut, it’s fair to ask whether Dropbox has made all the easy money it can, and whether the next billion will come at a higher cost.”

* Tech Trader: Positive on MDB, SEND: Among smaller cloud software companies whose shares are soaring amid renewed mergers-and-acquisitions fervor in the sector; investors want such firms in their portfolios because their outperformance helps achieve alpha.

* Trader: Investors aren’t yet worried about tariffs, and the current situation would have to get more out of hand than it is today for tariffs to have a bigger impact on the market; Cautious on GIS: Shares merit some of their recent downside, but the company’s reduction in outlook appears tied to self-inflicted miscues, says BMO analyst Kenneth Zaslow, and its valuation gives reason for optimism; Cautious on THS: Matters look grim for the maker of private-label foods, but some bullish observers expect incoming CEO Steven Oakland to put the company back on track.

* Profile: David Semple, manager of the VanEck Emerging Markets fund, avoids cyclical companies whose fates are tied to commodities or exports predicated on cheap labor (top 10 holdings: Tencent Holdings, BABA, Samsung Electronics, Ping An Insurance, Sberbank of Russia, Naspers, HDFC Bank, JD, CIE Automotive, Beijing Capital International Airport). Interview: Stephanie Pomboy, founder of Macromavens, says the next crisis will come from the Federal Reserve, whose march to tightening will stress tapped-out consumers and overstretched companies.

* Small Caps: Positive on LZB: Shares could rise 20% within a year or two, propelled by higher consumer spending, a new deal to sell on AMZN, and successful efforts to reach millennials.

* European Trader: Cautious on Micro Focus: Shares of the business software company plunged last week, and while bulls say the dive is overdone, bears make a convincing case that there’s little hope for a quick turnaround.

* Emerging Markets: Moscow’s relationship with the West may be deteriorating, but as long as natural-gas sales to the EU are unhindered, “nothing short of armed conflict” with Russia will deter investors.

* Commodities: China’s planned launch of a yuan-denominated crude futures contract could become a benchmark for global oil transactions, but it must overcome a range of challenges first.

* Streetwise: Double-digit growth is crucial for tech companies such as FB, and slowdown will hurt the social site—but of greater consequence will be what happens to its reputation.