Ride The Lightning
Mama always said I was born on the wild side. One foot in the EV market and the other trying to walk the hydrogen line. Can’t say I never saw it coming…
What, you expected Metallica instead of Warren Zeiders? Guilty as charged, but … it ain’t right.
Today, Great Ones, we’re going to highlight another electric vehicle (EV) maker. Yes … another one. Wall Street is truly riding the lightning today with Lightning eMotors (NYSE: ZEV).
Lightning eMotors surged nearly 80% today, catching me and the rest of the EV market off guard.
You see, Lightning just signed an $850 million, multiyear agreement to make 7,500 fully electric powertrains for Forest River shuttle buses.
But, it’s not just powertrains…
Lightning will also manufacture and handle charging products and services for these shuttle buses.
“This has the potential to be the largest contract ever in the electric shuttle bus market,” said Tim Reeser, Lightning CEO.
Now, you might think: “Electric shuttle bus market … just how big could that be?” I was too after I chuckled a bit at the idea of the largest anything in such a market. But, I’m not laughing anymore…
There are about 81,000 electric buses operating right now. I know, I was shocked. What’s more, analysts expect there to be 704,000 of these things running around by 2027. That’s some massive growth … and Lightning just signed a pretty big contract to dive headfirst into this market.
What makes this even better for Lightning is that it isn’t actually making the buses. It’s partnering with Forest River — a leading shuttle bus maker with several hundred thousand square feet of manufacturing capacity already at its disposal.
“Forest River’s family of shuttle bus companies, including top name brands like Starcraft, Glaval and Champion, maintain a dominant market position selling over 10,000 units per year in the Class 4 to 6 shuttle-bus space,” said Reeser.
All Lightning has to do is make the vroom-vroom parts and provide the charging services. Bada bing, bada boom … electric shuttles to the moon!
Also, I’d like to point out that the $850 million deal with Forest River is bigger than Lightning’s entire market capitalization. Just … wow.
If that wasn’t enough, Lightning also makes hydrogen fuel-cell powertrains for EVs.
Sigh … there it is. I just knew something hydrogen-related was coming.
Laugh it up, fuzzball. You’re gonna realize sooner or later the power of hydrogen fuel cells.
But, as interesting as Lightning seems, I’m not rushing out to buy any shares today. Recite after me, class: “We don’t chase massive single-day rallies!”
In the end, ZEV stock is certainly going on my watchlist. To quote Senator Palpatine: “We will watch your career with great interest.”
But don’t think I’m going to leave you EV-obsessed Great Ones out there high and dry today — no sir!
Click here for the real EV profit story that nobody is talking about.
Move over, GameStop — we have a new meme king with AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC). AMC popped more than 10% after it reported better-than-expected quarterly results. But a smaller loss was just the tip of the large, buttered popcorn.
AMC also announced a deal for a 45-day theatrical window for Warner Brothers movies — i.e., AT&T can’t put Warner Bros. movies on a streaming service for 45 days. AMC also said it would start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment.
Which is good because for a family of four to see a new release and get drinks and popcorn … it would cost about two bitcoins, by my estimate.
II-VI’s (Nasdaq: IIVI) earnings were revved up like a deuce, but the company may just be another runner in the night.
The company specializes in composite semiconductors (i.e., “system on a chip” setups) and optoelectronic components. Think lasers and lidar … that self-driving tech that Tesla hated (until it didn’t).
So, II-VI beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, reporting that gross margins declined for most of its product lines. The stock initially rallied on the report, but as analysts dug into the numbers, IIVI stock fell.
That’s because guidance wasn’t quite in line with expectations, and margins on critical lidar components contracted. Still, it was a solid report all around, and anyone looking to get in on the lidar boom before lidar really booms might want to consider today’s drop a buying opportunity.
Lidar this and lidar that … isn’t there anyone who knows what lidar is all about?
Sure, Charlie Brown, Charles Mizrahi can tell you what lidar is all about. (Lights, please.)
Disney+ floored me, Paramount+ bored me and CNN+? Please… We’ve beaten the “StreamingService+” thing to death over the past year. But nothing — nothing — prepared me for Salesforce+.
It’s a new business- and growth-oriented streaming service from customer-management software pro Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).
Obviously, the world needed more corporate jargon-filled “inspirational” pep talks 24/7! And it’s free because convincing anyone to add it to their streaming subscription stable would be impossible. Salesforce wants its professional-development content to drive business professionals “to use our products and want to engage more with us.”
Who wants to break it to Salesforce? (Not it!) This sounds like a LinkedIn kinda move, but I don’t even think Microsoft is that desperate…
On a warm summer’s evening, on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with the gambler … digitally, in fact, thanks to the DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG) mobile app.
For the dozen or so states where it’s legal — not you, Kentucky — DraftKings is the, well, king of all things sports betting.
The company dropped a banger, double-beat-and-raise report last week and parlayed that market momentum this week when DraftKings announced it’s buying Golden Nugget Online Gaming (Nasdaq: GNOG).
The $1.56 billion deal expands DraftKing’s exposure to casino-style online games. Since the company already offers sports wagering and fantasy something or other, the best way it can keep growing and milking its customer base is to offer more games and sports and in more states across the country.
It’s all gravy, Davy, for DKNG investors — by now, they know that the casino always wins.
It’s “told ya so” Tuesday! Remember way way back in February when I told you that 3D printing was about to take off? (That was practically centuries ago, I know.)
So … 3D printing is taking off. Pandemics do funny things to a manufacturer’s productivity. Who would’ve guessed that 3D printing could help with gummed-up supply chains and various labor issues?
As usual, if you’ve kept up with your Great Stuff, you’d be ahead of the Street here. On February 17, we said:
Turns out, the real acceptance and attention was just getting started. Over the past half-year, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) and its fellow 3D printing stocks have taken off for exactly the reasons you’d expect … and the same reason that DDD’s CEO noted today.
From aircraft heat exchangers to semiconductor wafers, manufacturers are having trouble sourcing parts. Whatcha gonna do? Make your own parts?
As a matter of fact … yes. Manufacturers are as tired of waiting through parts-sourcing slowdowns as their consumers are. As more producers try to wean off their reliance on complicated supply chains, more companies are now bringing 3D printing power in-house.
For 3D Systems, that means continued double-digit revenue growth and a 29% rally off its double beat report. The company’s last double beat report (back on May 11) saw health care revenue shoot up 39%, but real Great Ones knew that was just the tip of the bio-printing iceberg.
Health care revenue for 3D Systems comes from literally printing body tissue and organs — think about that! Besides the obvious gold mine for DDD, this is sci-fi meets reality and the coolest earnings report of the week.
Last quarter, 3D Systems’ health care revenue grew 69%, showing no signs of slowing. And that’s on top of the already-impressive industrial revenue growth. While we’re not buying into this earnings-driven rally, justified as it may be, keep an eye on DDD and the 3D printing scene — this is just the start of something grand.
What do you think, Great Ones? Are you all about that 3D-printing life, or do you not care much about the trend? Let me know in the inbox what you think about 3D printing stocks, streaming service flops and electric bus stops.
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Until next time, stay Great!
Joseph Hargett
Editor, Great Stuff
