Mad Hedge Technology Letter
April 3, 2024
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(TESLA ON THE BACK FOOT)
(TSLA)
Peak Tesla?
It sure seems like it.
I don’t want to jinx the company, but it is highly likely that it is passed its best.
The data is looking increasingly gloomy and could set the stage for an even larger drop into irrelevance.
In short, it’s definitely not looking too bright for the company that Elon Musk built.
Tesla only delivered 386,810 vehicles from January through March 2024, almost 9% below the 423,000 it sold in the same quarter of last year.
The drop in sales makes Apple's diminishing demand look like a drop in an ocean.
EV competition is catching up and demand has wavered as consumers’ cash is tangled up in other parts of the economy namely necessities.
Then there is the realization that the giant first wave of EV adoptees is a barren second wave.
The second wave might not even come at all and if it does, it could be years down the road when Tesla is forced to pour billions into developing a new “killer” EV.
Even someone like my oldest son is not interested in EVs and rather drive combustion-engine-based Ferraris or Lamborghinis.
EVs aren’t for everyone and the industry didn’t budget or scale for that scenario.
The EV industry always thought there would be a horse drinking from the bucket.
Are its EVs going stale or is the style just outdated at this point?
I know tech moves on quickly, but this would set new records.
High interest rates have also put a dent into demand as financing a Tesla isn’t what it used to be.
Just a few months ago, CEO Elon Musk posted that “most people don’t love to buy cars in the middle of winter” as he offered a $1,000 incentive. Tesla has also begun experimenting with advertising and has gone to greater lengths to educate consumers about its lineup.
Tesla never used to reach out to consumers.
Their cars used to sell themselves.
Remember when Tesla refused to sell their cars in dealerships and thought just put them online and they would fly off the shelves.
The Model Y sport utility vehicle and Model 3 sedan accounted for 96% of deliveries in the fourth quarter.
Tesla expanded its offerings late last year with the introduction of the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck in the US.
Despite the challenges, Tesla still managed to reclaim its title as the world’s largest EV seller after being surpassed by China’s BYD Co. at the end of last year.
Tesla encountered bottlenecks in its operation last quarter such as Houthi militia attacks that disrupted its component supply in the Red Sea, leading to a temporary halt in production at its German factory.
Management and service staff are keen to demonstrate the latest version of the company's premium driver assistance system, marketed as Full Self-Driving, which still requires driver supervision.
Tesla's stock has been nose-diving while the rest of big tech has pulled away from the laggards.
The EV maker has lost around a third of its value and it seems like there is no end in sight.
If any readers are interested in investing in big tech now, then I would avoid Tesla and go into something more aligned with AI.
Tesla will need to pour billions into revamping its competitive advantage and the stock should suffer in the short-term.
“I definitely fall into the camp of thinking of AI as augmenting human capability and capacity.” – Said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Mad Hedge Technology Letter
April 1, 2024
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(THE STREAMING WARS WIND DOWN)
(NFLX, (PARA), (WBD)
For certain segments of the technology sector, it sure does feel like they are fully saturated.
I am not referring to AI, because that is in the early innings of a seismic movement.
However, let’s take a look at streaming.
This category was invented by Netflix (NFLX) and now the whole country pays for streaming.
Netflix had the first-mover advantage and took the initiative.
For the leftovers, the pain and struggle with creating a profitable streaming business is real.
Is the year 2024 the year when streaming management has that Aha moment?
Many have instructed us to stay on board the ship while losses bleed uncontrollably.
Everyone is fighting to be one of the three or four streaming services people can’t live without.
Paramount Global (PARA) is under pressure to abandon its namesake streaming service, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is desperate for partners that offer Max a better chance to compete with the likes of Netflix.
Let’s look at Disney right now.
Streaming grew quickly from launch in 2019 — we’re talking now about Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu — but even with strong sales, they are sitting on big losses.
Disney board member Nelson Peltz is unhappy, as outlined in a 133-page manifesto published March 4, that Disney “belatedly” entered the streaming game and has a “poorly planned" strategy to catch up with the likes of Netflix.
He takes issue with Disney trying to achieve scale in streaming by buying Fox’s entertainment assets for $71 billion in 2019 because he thinks it exposed the company more to the dying linear TV business.
He also can’t believe that a company reporting more than $22 billion of run-rate streaming revenue annually is still losing money.
Peltz wants a digital strategy for the ESPN sports assets..
Peltz wants a succession plan put in place for current CEO Bob Iger, who extended his contract with Disney last year after a coming-out-of-retirement return to the company in 2022.
In February, Disney teamed up with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery to create a streaming service for college and pro sports that you can currently only find on TV.
That seems like what Peltz was asking for. Disney also invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games and gave access to the Fortnite maker for gaming portrayals of Star Wars, Marvel, and Avatar.
The bottom line here is that streaming is not nearly as profitable as many insiders first thought.
Streamers thought they could scale up and acquire subscribers at a loss and then raise prices.
That business model was only for Netflix to accomplish because they started so much earlier than anyone else.
The best of the rest are now saddled with loss-making companies and the cost of content post-covid has never been pricier.
Netflix shares have had a nice run in the last 365 days going from $180 per share to over $600 per share.
A lot of that price movement was an acknowledgement that they are dominating streaming compared to the other legacy corporations that have tried their hand in this game.
Instead of jumping into the legacy TV players turned streamers, I would tell readers to wait for Netflix on the dip.
It’s been tried and tested over time and any big dip should and will be bought by investors.
There is not a lot of room for stocks other than Netflix in a sub-sector of rather scarce any AI.
“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” – Said American Investor Warren Buffett
Mad Hedge Technology Letter
March 27, 2024
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(TAIWAN IS ON THE MAP)
(AAPL), (TSM)
I know it’s not the sexiest choice but there is a chip company in Taiwan that readers need to look at.
This company has investments all over the world and is the leader in what they do.
They are also involved in AI which lately has been the ticket to riches.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) may not seem like a glamorous AI stock, but it's as critical to the AI future.
To understand TSMC's role in AI, you need to understand how we get to end consumer-facing products like ChatGPT, Bard, and other generative AI applications.
For AI to be effective, it must be trained using lots of data -- quantities that must be stored in specialized data centers.
Data centers rely on graphic processing units (GPUs), which are essentially the brains of AI computing systems.
TSMC and the semiconductors it manufactures for its client companies are crucial in this process. These GPUs rely heavily on TSMC's best-in-class manufacturing processes.
This AI knock-on effect hasn't impacted TSMC's financials yet, but management said they expect sales of its AI-related semiconductors to grow at a compound annual rate of 50% for at least the next few years.
By 2027, AI-related semiconductors are expected to be responsible for a large part of the company's revenue.
TSMC will absolutely be additive to the AI ecosystem.
Let’s talk about their products.
TSMC's 3nm fabrication process accounted for 15% of the company's revenue in 2023.
Only one of TSMC's customers used it at the time:
Apple (AAPL).
The three-nanometer product is where it’s at.
Wasn’t it just a year or 2 ago we were at 7 nanometers?
As more customers adopt the manufacturing process, 3nm process nodes will account for a considerably larger share of TSMC's revenue.
This year TSMC's N3-series nodes — including N3B and N3E — will account for over 20% of the foundry's revenue in 2024.
Apple currently exclusively uses TSMC's N3B to make its A17 Pro system-on-chip (SoC) for smartphones, as well as the M3-series processors for iMac desktops and MacBook laptops.
AMD is preparing to launch its new Zen 5-based processors made on 3nm- and 4nm-class process technologies later this year.
Apple's new iPhone 16 series will be equipped with the A18-series processor, and the upcoming M4-series processors for Mac PCs will also be produced using TSMC's 3nm technology.
This marks the first time Intel has entrusted TSMC with the full range of chips for its mainstream consumer platform, the report notes.
This collaboration highlights TSMC's expanding role in serving Intel, which also happens to be the company's rival in the foundry market.
With three major customers using TSMC's 3nm family of process technologies, this company needs to be on readers’ radar.
More companies are expected to adopt TSMC's N3 nodes in 2025, including performance-enhanced N3P, and the report suggests 3nm will account for over 30% of TSMC earnings in 2025.
It’s easy to see with the mushrooming of business for TSMC, how they are a highly sought-after stock.
It also explains why the stock has been on a tear.
It was only just last May they were trading at $82 per share and fast forward to today at the stock sits at $136 per share.
Holding this stock long term has borne fruit and every big should be bought.
They will continue to be the best at what they do.
Mad Hedge Technology Letter
March 25, 2024
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(REGULATIONS REGULATE TECH)
(AAPL), (GOOGL), (META)
I’m not saying the time is up for big tech.
The Magnificent 7 are still by and far great companies who print money.
They dominate in a way that was unfathomable just a generation ago.
Trillion-dollar companies are now commonplace in tech and we have pushed into valuations of over 2 and pushing towards $3 trillion.
Success like this easily could make them easy targets and that is what has become of them in Europe as Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL), and Meta (META) are in the firing line under the sweeping new Digital Markets Act tech legislation.
Apple has already been slapped on the wrist quite hard with a $2 billion fee after the European Commission said it found that Apple had applied restrictions on app developers that prevented them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.
In a third inquiry, the commission said it is investigating whether Apple has complied with its DMA obligations to ensure that users can easily uninstall apps on iOS and change default settings. The probe also focuses on whether Apple is actively prompting users with choices to allow them to change default services on iOS, such as for the web browser or search engine.
The fourth probe targets Alphabet, as the European Commission looks into whether the firm’s display of Google search results to choosing its own products over other services.
The fifth and final investigation focuses on Meta and its so-called pay and consent model. Last year, Meta introduced an ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram in Europe. The commission is looking into whether offering the subscription model without ads or making users consent to terms and conditions for the free service is in violation of the DMA.
If any company is found to have infringed the DMA, the commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the tech firms’ total worldwide turnover. These penalties can increase to 20% in case of repeated infringement.
Preferring one’s own product from companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google is not a shocking phenomenon. Business can be a dirty game and self-selecting ones products because they own the platform they are sold on is almost common knowledge to the average consumers.
Organizational bodies like the European Commission have an incentive to fine American tech companies that do business in Europe.
Europe has no alternative apps and aren’t competitive in the tech space.
The desperate reach of European bureaucracy has decided to just steal the money in the form of tech fines instead.
One big takeaway that sticks out like a sore thumb is the clear trend to the low-hanging fruit being plucked.
The incremental dollar will be harder to earn for big tech as regulatory commissions around the world zone in on their anti-competitive practices.
I doubt that fines will get so big to the point that these tech firms will go bankrupt, but this could set the stage for a slew of earnings misses which could knock down the share prices.
I still believe these stocks are buys, but only after they are beaten down and repriced.
I wouldn’t go chasing here with regulatory issues rearing its ugly head and revenue forecasts disappointing.
If I had to choose one to avoid then it would be Apple.
