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Tesla shareholders will vote on Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package. (0:17) Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile keeps growing. (1:28) Palantir set to report earnings. (2:48)
The following is an abridged transcript:
Tesla (TSLA) will hold its highly-anticipated shareholder meeting at Gigafactory Texas.
Shareholders will vote on Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package and the company’s future direction.
The meeting is also expected to include progress reports on several critical initiatives, including the robotaxi network pilot, Cybercab program, Tesla Semi production ramp and advances in next-generation battery technology.
The meeting will be livestreamed globally, and volatility in the stock is expected to be high throughout the day.
The Tesla board proposed that the compensation package be paid in shares over twelve tranches if certain goals are achieved, increasing his voting power to 25% in the company at a time when AI and robotics could exceed the company’s achievements in vehicle electrification.
Last week, Board Chair Robyn Denholm asked shareholders to ignore the recommendations of proxy advisor firms, unions and corporate watchdogs and approve Musk’s unprecedented payout.
SA analyst Oliver Rodzianko says there’s a low probability of full realization within the award window, “but then again, what in Tesla’s history has been reasonable?”
“None of it, and yet it has achieved essentially all of what it set out to do to date. Even with failures along the way, the lesson of Musk is this: if you believe, you never give up,” he said.
Looking to the news this weekend, in Warren Buffett’s last quarter at the helm, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) said operating profit rose nearly 34%, helped by strong performance in its insurance underwriting business. The company’s cash pile swelled to almost $390 billion in the absence of buybacks.
Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan said CEO-designate Greg Abel will restore investor confidence over time.
“In the near term, however, increased investment activity and/or share repurchases could be a catalyst for BRK shares.”
The White House says China will “effectively eliminate” all existing and proposed rare earth and critical mineral export controls — a signal that global supply chains may finally be finding a new frequency.
It will also end investigations into U.S. chipmakers and other major companies.
On the U.S. side, tariffs on Chinese imports imposed to curb fentanyl flows will be lowered by 10 percentage points of the cumulative rate, effective November 10. The U.S. will also “maintain its suspension of heightened reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports until November 10, 2026.”
On the earnings front, 136 S&P 500 companies report Q3 results.
So far, 83% of S&P 500 companies have reported positive EPS surprises and 79% have beaten expectations on revenue. Guidance is more balanced, though, with 28 S&P companies issuing negative EPS guidance.
Palantir (PLTR) will likely garner the most attention when it reports on Monday.
Analysts expect EPS of $0.17 on revenue of $1.09 billion.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who has an Outperform on the stock, says the top-line consensus is beatable as the artificial intelligence platform “continues to be at the center of delivering value to customers with the Street still underestimating the company’s commercial efforts.”
But SA analyst Tunga Capital, who has a Sell on PLTR, says management must signal that the 50+% growth trajectory is the new baseline. A range of 30% – 40% would mean a “painful repricing” for the stock.
Also on the earnings calendar, Realty Income (O), ON Semiconductor (ON) and Clorox (CLX) join Palantir on Monday.
AMD (AMD), Shopify (SHOP), Uber (UBER), Amgen (AMGN) and Pfizer (PFE) report Tuesday.
McDonald’s (MCD), Applovin (APP), Qualcomm (QCOM), Arm (ARM), DoorDash (DASH) and Fortinet (FTNT) weigh in on Wednesday.
Thursday brings AstraZeneca (AZN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Airbnb (ABNB), Take-Two (TTWO) and Block (XYZ).
Constellation Energy (CEG), KKR & Co. (KKR), Enbridge (ENB) and Duke Energy (DUK) issue results on Friday.
And for income investors, Citigroup (C) and NRG (NRG) go ex-dividend on Monday. Citi pays out on Nov. 26 and NRG pays out on Nov. 17.
MetLife (MET) goes ex-dividend Tuesday, paying out on Dec. 9.
Ford (F) goes ex-dividend on Friday, with a Dec. 1 payout date.
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