Chinese EV Makers Turn Abandoned Western Factories Into Global Launchpads Chinese EV companies are rapidly expanding overseas by snapping up unused factory space from struggling Western automakers, many of whom are downsizing traditional gasoline-car production, according to Nikkei . Stellantis recently opened plants in France and Spain to partnerships with Dongfeng and Leapmotor. At the same time...
Chinese EV Makers Turn Abandoned Western Factories Into Global Launchpads Chinese EV companies are rapidly expanding overseas by snapping up unused factory space from struggling Western automakers, many of whom are downsizing traditional gasoline-car production, according to Nikkei . Stellantis recently opened plants in France and Spain to partnerships with Dongfeng and Leapmotor. At the same time, Geely is expected to restart an idle production line at a Spanish factory owned by Ford Motor Company. The trend reflects a broader shift in the auto industry: Chinese EV makers are expanding aggressively while many legacy manufacturers are cutting capacity. UBS analysts predict Chinese brands could control 35% of the global auto market by 2030, up from 25% this year, helped by China’s low-cost battery supply chain. Their report warned that foreign automakers face “structural market share loss” as competition intensifies. Nikkei writes that building cars locally has become a practical way for Chinese companies to avoid tariffs and satisfy governments pushing for domestic manufacturing. BNP Paribas analyst James Kan said the strategy helps local economies “feel that they’re getting a cut,” making expansion politically easier. Europe has become a key battleground. After facing steep EU tariffs, Leapmotor said it would source many components within Europe for production at Stellantis facilities. The company also plans to begin manufacturing in Brazil, where tariffs on imported EVs are set to increase again this summer. But owning overseas factories brings new complications. Citigroup analyst Harald Hendrikse joked he was “a little amused” watching Chinese firms buy European plants because they are about to learn “how difficult it is to do business” there. Labor costs, regulations, and local sourcing rules could significantly raise expenses. BYD has already faced setbacks abroad. After renovating a former Ford plant in Brazil, the company became embroiled in controversy over ...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I put a Strong Buy label on ServiceNow ( NOW ) stock as the 1Y price drop of ~50%+ that marks a big mispricing led (in my opinion) by misunderstood M&A margin dilution and deferred Middle East on-premise revenue. However, I am not missing ServiceNow’s upscaling from a seat-based SaaS vendor to a hybrid-consumption AI OS. More so, as autonomous agents rep...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I put a Strong Buy label on ServiceNow ( NOW ) stock as the 1Y price drop of ~50%+ that marks a big mispricing led (in my opinion) by misunderstood M&A margin dilution and deferred Middle East on-premise revenue. However, I am not missing ServiceNow’s upscaling from a seat-based SaaS vendor to a hybrid-consumption AI OS. More so, as autonomous agents replace human workers, they derive 6.5x more revenue through volumetric token consumption. Further, the newly launched Action Fabric backs ServiceNow as the tollbooth for all 3rd-party AI execution and the AI Control Tower targets large upside in non-human identity governance. However, as always, this thesis holds risks, and the main among them is the architectural problem of integrating ~$12 billion in acquired tech stacks without fracturing ServiceNow’s single-data-model. Along with that, hyperscalers like Microsoft ( MSFT ) may try to bypass the Action Fabric and compete on the enterprise orchestration layer. What Can Take ServiceNow Stock Price Higher? On value dislocation on NOW stock by Wall Street, after the Q1-FY2026 earnings report, ServiceNow stock has faced a hard ~14% sentiment-led price contraction to a 52-week swing-low of $81.24. As of now, NOW stock has recovered to $99.69 (at the time of writing). However, the 1Y price drop is compressing its 1Y forward non-GAAP P/E to a low of ~19.84x and P/FCF to 22.53x. These valuation levels point to 110%+ price upside in the mid-term (based on mean-reversion) against the state of NOW's forward growth in EPS and FCF per share base. Ycharts In my opinion, considering the continued stock price drop, Wall Street's sentiment is now fixated on headwinds like a 50-75 bps operating margin dilution coming from the $7.8 billion Armis acquisition and a 75 bps headwind to Q1 subscription growth led by delayed deal closings in the Middle East. In my observations, ServiceNow is going through a business base shift to leading the enterpr...
Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC - Free Report) by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,184 shares of the chip maker's stock after selling 6,256 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Intel were worth $376,000...
Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC - Free Report) by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,184 shares of the chip maker's stock after selling 6,256 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Intel were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Get Intel alerts: Sign Up A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of INTC. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at about $495,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Intel by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,833,653 shares of the chip maker's stock valued at $67,662,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,895,000. Capstone Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Intel in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,094,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Intel by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 681,015 shares of the chip maker's stock valued at $25,129,000 after buying an additional 72,948 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on INTC shares. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on Intel from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DZ Bank upgraded Intel from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Intel in a research no...
TotalEnergies ( TTE ) is implementing its annual capital increase reserved for employees and former employees of the company, it said on Friday. Shareholders approved a resolution authorizing the board to carry out one or more capital increases without preferential subscription rights over a 26-month period, limited to 1.5% of share capital and reserved for members of a company savings plan. Maxim...
TotalEnergies ( TTE ) is implementing its annual capital increase reserved for employees and former employees of the company, it said on Friday. Shareholders approved a resolution authorizing the board to carry out one or more capital increases without preferential subscription rights over a 26-month period, limited to 1.5% of share capital and reserved for members of a company savings plan. Maximum number of shares to be offered and total amount of the offer: 18 million shares, i.e., 0.8% of the share capital as of the date of the Board’s decision. Description of the newly issued shares: same category as existing TotalEnergies shares with immediate dividend rights. More on TotalEnergies SE TotalEnergies SE (TTES:CA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript TotalEnergies SE (TTES:CA) Discusses Sustainability and Climate Progress Report With Focus on Emissions Reduction and Decarbonization Initiatives Transcript TotalEnergies: Nearing Or At A Cyclic Peak (Rating Downgrade) TotalEnergies dominates Middle East oil trade amid war — FT Historical earnings data for TotalEnergies SE
Italy ’s increasing debt burden risks mounting scrutiny from investors despite the efforts of Giorgia Meloni ’s government to bring it under control, according to Bloomberg Economics. European Commission forecasts on Thursday that projected borrowings rising more than expected to exceed those of Greece next year, driven by a pandemic-era real estate investment tax break, highlight the danger posed...
Italy ’s increasing debt burden risks mounting scrutiny from investors despite the efforts of Giorgia Meloni ’s government to bring it under control, according to Bloomberg Economics. European Commission forecasts on Thursday that projected borrowings rising more than expected to exceed those of Greece next year, driven by a pandemic-era real estate investment tax break, highlight the danger posed to the public finances, Simona Delle Chiaie , BE’s chief euro-area economist, wrote in a report . “The new commission forecasts published on May 21 suggest Italy’s fiscal outlook remains challenging,” she said. “Tighter financial conditions and the prospect of further central-bank rate hikes risk leaving Italy’s large debt burden increasingly exposed.” The report by Brussels officials emphasized the enduring impact of policies implemented long-before Meloni took office as premier in 2022. The commission reckons that a surprisingly large hit from the so-called Superbonus program, while pared back under her watch, was behind the country’s unexpected failure to bring Italy’s deficit down to the European Union’s 3%-of-output ceiling last year. Brussels now reckons that debt will edge up to 139% of gross domestic product in 2027. Italy Negotiating With EU on Budget Flexibility, Giorgetti Says Italy’s Meloni Backs Housing Access Plan as Election Nears Bank of Italy Urges Meloni Government to Keep Eye on Spending “Public finances have improved markedly in the near term, helped by Meloni’s government scaling back the costly Superbonus scheme,” Delle Chiaie wrote in the report on Friday. “Once the effects of the Superbonus scheme fade, Italy’s positive primary balance should begin exerting downward pressure on the debt ratio. However, the outlook remains complicated by rising borrowing costs and weak growth dynamics.”
narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images On the surface, I look at 2026 like a year in which the IPO window is finally showing some signs of reopening after the late 2021 / early 2022 bust. StockAnalysis shows more than 140 IPOs on the U.S. market so far this year, up 11.54% from the same point in 2025. At the same time, Renaissance, which uses a narrower institutional screen, shows only 65 IPOs priced...
narvo vexar/iStock via Getty Images On the surface, I look at 2026 like a year in which the IPO window is finally showing some signs of reopening after the late 2021 / early 2022 bust. StockAnalysis shows more than 140 IPOs on the U.S. market so far this year, up 11.54% from the same point in 2025. At the same time, Renaissance, which uses a narrower institutional screen, shows only 65 IPOs priced YTD, down 17.7% versus last year. Both counts can be true, which is a problem. In my view, SPACs can make the IPO market look busier than it really is. So, I do not think investors should look at the IPO market in 2026 and quickly conclude that animal spirits are back, like in the 2021 boom, when the cost of money was basically zero. That said, this year, something is changing in the IPO market. The IPOs that are working this year are not random companies. As I'm about to discuss in this piece, they are clustered around one theme: AI. So far, this year's IPO market has shown a lot of AI Hyperscaler CapEx beneficiaries. However, the upcoming IPOs, which may include OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, among many other candidates, are not exactly beneficiaries of that CapEx. This is one of the reasons why I'm hesitant to call for an IPO boom this year, similar to 2021. That said, the next IPOs (particularly, SpaceX) will determine whether AI can carry the IPO market by itself. In my view, strong pricing from SpaceX would likely validate demand for mega-cap private leaders and could make investors more comfortable with OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and other AI-linked listings. Overall, I feel bullish on the IPO market this year, and therefore on the Renaissance IPO ETF ( IPO ), but I don't expect a 2021-style frenzy any time soon. Below, I explain why The IPO Market In 2026 Before I present the numbers, I have to make a quick tangent because the headline count depends heavily on the IPO definition. For example, StockAnalysis shows over 140 IPOs on the U.S. stock market in 2026 as of ...