GM, Ford, Chrysler September Sales Fall; Bass Pro to Acquire Cabelas

Mukesh Buch
03 Oct, 2016
New York City

Cabelas agreed to be acquired by rival Bass Pro Shops for $5.5 billion. Dover agreed to buy Italy-based Ravaglioli. Fiat, Ford, GM U.S. auto sales in September declined. PTC lifted bookings forecast. Tesla Motors auto deliveries jump.

[R]12:10 PM New York – Cabelas agreed to be acquired by rival Bass Pro Shops for $5.5 billion. Dover agreed to buy Italy-based Ravaglioli. Fiat, Ford, GM U.S. auto sales in September declined. PTC lifted bookings forecast. Tesla Motors auto deliveries jump.[/R]

Tollbooth Index slipped 45.19 or 0.4% to 10,925.62.

Earnings Review

Cabelas Inc ((CAB)) surged 14.5% or $7.94 to $62.87 after the specialty retailer agreed to be acquired by rival privately held Bass Pro Shops for $65.50 per share in cash in a deal valued at about $5.5 billion, a premium of 19.2% of Friday closing.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first-half of 2017.

Dover Corporation ((DOV)) rose 23 cents to $73.87 after the engineering equipment maker agreed to acquire Italy-based automobile service equipment maker Ravaglioli S.p.A. Group for about $274 million or €245 million.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ((FCAU)) added 1 cent to $6.41 after the vehicle maker stated U.S. auto sales in September fell 1% to 192,883 vehicles compared to 194,666 vehicles a year ago month.

Total passenger car sales in the month plunged 17% to 47,482 vehicles while total SUV sales slipped 3% to 93,535 vehicles but total truck and LCV sales surged 27% to 51,866 vehicles.

Fiat brand sales tumbled 30% to 2,913 vehicles and RAM pickup vehicles sales soared 29% to 47,792 units. Dodge brand sales in the month dropped 6% to 42,935.

Chrysler brand sales declined 27% to 18,797 units and Jeep brand sales slid 3% to 76,331 units.

Ford Motor Company ((F)) rose 8 cents to $12.15 after the automaker reported total U.S. sales in September plummeted 7.7% to 204,447 vehicles and retail sales declined 4% to 162,327.

Passenger car sales in the month tumbled 20.7% to 50,553 units while utility vehicle sales slipped 3.4% to 67,496 units and trucks sales slid 1.8% to 86,398 while Lincoln sales rose 1.3% to 8,797 units.

Ford Escape sales in the month declined 12% to 25,065 vehicles but retail sales in F-Series trucks recorded the best month of the year, with sales of 67,809 vehicles, but fell by 2.6% from a year ago month.

Sales in Fusion slumped 17.5% to 20,570 vehicles and sales in Fiesta tumbled 39.5% to 4,230 vehicles and Focus sales dropped 16.9% to 11,160 vehicles. Mustang sales plummeted 32% to 6,429 vehicles.

“Ford’s average transaction prices increased $1,100 from a year ago, outpacing the industry’s $400 average,” said Mark LaNeve vice president of U.S. marketing and sales.

General Motors Company ((GM)) gained 1.4% or 43 cents to $32.20 after the automaker reported total sales in September slid 0.6% to 249,795 units but retail sales in the month edged up 0.3% to 204,449 units.

GM said September sales in Chevrolet segment edged down 0.3% to 170,237 units while sales in Cadillac business rose 3.1% to 15,368 units and sales in Buick segment soared 14.1% to 20,992 from a year ago month.

The automaker said retail transaction prices after sales incentives were $35,804 nearly $5,000 above the industry average and approx $1,000 higher than the September 2015.

John Bean Technologies Corp ((JBT)) gained 1.4% or 96 cents to $71.51 after the technology solutions provider agreed to acquire Tipper Tie, Inc. from Dover Corp for about $160 million.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth-quarter of this year.

PTC Inc ((PTC)) jumped 2.7% or $1.20 to $45.51 after the software developer lifted preliminary bookings forecast in the fourth-quarter ending in September between $139 million and $142 million compared to the previous guidance of $111 million to $121 million.

PTC also lifted restructuring charges for the quarter in the range of $75 million to $80 million compared to the earlier estimated range of $40 million to $50 million.

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA)) soared 5.3% or $10.85 to $214.82 after the electric vehicles maker said third-quarter global deliveries more than doubled to 24,500 from a year ago period and 5,500 cars are in transit to customers that will be included in the fourth-quarter sales data.

The electric vehicles maker said production in the third-quarter surged 37% to 25,185 vehicles compared to the second-quarter.

In the second half, Tesla reaffirmed to produce 50,000 vehicles while sales and production in the fourth-quarter may be flat to slightly higher than in the third-quarter.

Tesla forecasted 2018 annual sales target of 500,000 units and Model 3 booking is scheduled to start this quarter.