Movers: Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, CarMax, General Motors, Newmont Corp

Scott Peters
11 Apr, 2023
New York City

Stocks struggled to find direction after cautious investors avoided increasing exposure ahead of the release of consumer inflation report on Wednesday. 

The S&P 500 index  decreased 1.31 points to 4,107.80  and the Nasdaq Composite index 29.31 points or 0.3% to 12,055.03. 

Apple Inc decreased 0.5% to $161.26 and the maker of popular mobile gadgets said it plans to open two new retail stores in India this month. 

Apple has been diversifying away its manufacturing base from China and plans to accelerate its production and sale in India this year. 

Apple is scheduled to open its first store in Mumbai on April 18 and in Delhi on April 20. 

Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A increased 0.5% to $478,539.0 and the company's co-founder and chairman Warren Buffett increased the company's stake in Japanese trading houses to 7.4%, according to CNBC. 

Itochu Corp, Marubeni Corp, Sumitomo Corp, Mitsui Corp and Mitsubishi Corp gained between 2% and 3% in Tokyo trading, after Warren Buffett confirmed his plans to meet management in an interview with Nikkei News. 

Over the last two years, Warren Buffett has been drumming up his long term belief in investing in the U.S. in media interviews.

But while publicly extolling the virtues of investing in the U.S., privately Buffett has been expanding his investments in China and Japan. 

In the late nineties, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger criticized unreliable estimation of assets in the ground of mining and energy companies, but only two decades later Buffett coughed up billions to acquire Occidental Petroleum.   

Similarly, investing in technology companies and railroad companies that require huge capital expenditures made the list of public denials, only to be added in the investment portfolio at a later date. 

CarMax, Inc soared 11.1% to $73.18 after the used car retailer reported better-than-expected earnings in its latest quarter. 

Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in February increased 25.6% to $5.6 billion and net income plunged to $69.0 million from $1159.8 million and diluted earnings per share fell to 44 cents from 98 cents a year ago. 

Combined retail and wholesale used vehicle unit sales were 290,214, 15.5% lower compared to the previous year.  

Average selling price for used vehicles declined 9.3% to $26,598 from $29,312 a year ago. 

Used vehicle sales unit sales at comparable stores declined 14.1% in the quarter on top of 6.5% fall in the previous year's period. Used vehicle revenue at comparable stores dropped 22.0% compared to 30.5% increase in the quarter a year ago.   

During the quarter, the company did not repurchase any of its shares and the stock repurchase program still has $2.45 billion available for buyback. 

General Motors Company decreased 0.8% to $35.47 and the automaker's venture arm said it will lead a $50 million investment round for Austin. Texas based EnergyX, the company focused on developing more advanced methods of extracting lithium from salt mines. 

Newmont Corporation declined 0.5% to $50.83 after the gold miner lifted its bid to acquire the Australia based Newcrest Mining. 

Newmont increased its original bid by 16% to $19.5 billion or $29.4 billion. 

Under the reviser terms, Newcrest stockholders will receive 0.4 Newmont shares or A$32.87 equivalent value compared to the previous offer of 0.38 shares. 

The deal is backed by the largest shareholders of Newcrest and Newmont will solidify its status as the largest gold producer in the world and extend its lead over its nearest rival Barrick Gold.