Movers: First Solar, JD.com, News Corp, Regional Banks, Tesla

Scott Peters
12 May, 2023
New York City

Regional banks were in focus on the final day of the week as they have been for the last two months. 

PacWest Bancorp gained 0.2% to $4.70, Western Alliance Bancorp increased 0.4% to $27.01 and Zions Bancorporation dropped 1.5% to $22.30. 

On Thursday PacWest reported additional 9.5% deposit outflow in the second quarter to May 10 after the closure and sale of First Republic Bank.  

Tesla Inc edged up a fraction to $172.0 after chief executive Elon Musk appointed a new chief executive for Twitter Inc.  

NBC Universal chief Linda Yaccarino is expected to lead Twitter in six weeks and Elon Musk will remain as chairman and chief technology officer of the social media platform. 

Musk has been under fire from Tesla shareholders for handling multiple companies and being distracted from managing the electric vehicle maker. 

First Solar Inc soared 22.6% to $224.46 after the company agreed to acquire Sweden-based Evolar AB for up to $80 million. 

The company makes thin films used in solar panels to improve efficiency. 

The efficiency of conventional silicon-based solar cells has stagnated at around 20% and the market has become highly commoditized over the last decade. 

Evolar claims its PV Power Booster increases solar cell efficiency by 25% compared with conventional silicon-based solar panels,

JD.com Inc declined 5% to $35.74 after the China-based e-commerce giant reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and earnings.  

Net revenue in the first quarter increased 1.4% to RMB 243.0 billion or $135.4 billion and net service revenue increased 34% to RMB47.4 billion or US$6.9 billion. 

Net income attributable to the company's ordinary shareholders for the first quarter was RMB 6.3 billion or $0.9 billion, compared to a net loss of RMB 3.0 billion for the same period last year.

Diluted net income per ADS for the first quarter was RMB3.93 or $0.57, compared to a diluted net loss of RMB 1.92 for the first quarter of 2022.

The company said current chief executive Xu Lei will step down in June in a surprise corporate reshuffle and said Xu will be replaced by chief financial officer Sandy Ran Xu.  

Amid rising competition in its domestic market and weak post-Covid recovery, JD.com stock has dropped 25% in the last twelve months in Hong Kong trading. 

News Corp increased 6.0% to $17.75 after the media company reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue. 

Revenue in the March quarter declined 2% to $2.45 billion from $2.49 billion, reflecting 4% negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. 

Net income in the quarter declined to $59 million from $104 million and diluted earnings per share dropped to 9 cents from 14 cents a year ago. 

Revenue in the Dow Jones segment increased 9% to $529 million, digital real estate services which includes Realtor.com declined 13% to $363 million and book publishing which includes Harper Collins was flat at $515 million. 

Broadcast media residential subscribers declined to 1.37 million from 1.52 million and commercial subscribers fell to 233,000 from 240,000 a year ago. 

During the third quarter, total average subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products increased 6% to 5.1 million and digital-only subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products grew 10%. 

Total subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal rose 5% compared to the prior year, to nearly 3.9 million average subscriptions in the quarter.

Digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal increased 9% to 3.3 million average subscriptions in the quarter, and represented 85% of total Wall Street Journal subscriptions.