Posco pops; record EV sales; Japan doubles down on chips

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Posco pops on batteries announcement

South Korea’s Posco Group [005490.KS] saw gains of 3.6% on Monday — its biggest jump in four weeks — after it announced it is to invest $92bn in electric vehicle (EV) batteries and hydrogen through 2030. The conglomerate owns South Korea’s biggest steelmaker, but it is moving to diversify; it expects to spend some 60% of the total in-country, and to generate approximately 330,000 jobs per year.

Record EV sales in Q2

Tesla [TSLA] and BYD [1211.HK] both beat sales records in the second quarter (Q2). Tesla beat Wall Street estimates by selling 466,140 units sold worldwide, up 83% against last year and 10% against Q1. Meanwhile, BYD shifted 700,244 vehicles, both fully electric and plug-in hybrid. Both stocks saw gains: Tesla jumped up to 6.8% in early US trading, and BYD closed up 4.5% in Hong Kong.

Japan’s chip war offensive

Tokyo-based JSR has accepted a $6.4bn take-private deal from JIC — a fund overseen by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), although JSR CEO Eric Johnson specified to the Financial Times that “this is not government ownership”, as JIC is an independent body. JSR has a 30% global market share in photoresists, chemicals that are key to semiconductor production. Meanwhile, EU commissioner Thierry Breton said on Monday that the bloc will strengthen its cooperation with Japan on semiconductors.

Apple cuts Vision Pro production target

Apple’s [AAPL] market valuation topped $3trn last Friday, but its mixed-reality Vision Pro headset is proving something of a headache. The company has reportedly scaled back its production targets for the first year after its mass-market release in early 2024; this already represents a lengthy runway from its launch on 5 June. As Jay Goldberg, founder of D/D Advisors, told the Financial Times: “This is the most complex consumer device anyone has ever made.”

Goldman Sachs names its picks for the next Magnificent Seven

Goldman Sachs analysts led by chief US equity strategist David Kostin employed the investment firm’s ‘Rule of 10’ stock screen to identify companies with realised and future sales growth of more than 10% — all which have largely outperformed the broader index since 2010. Among them are Salesforce [CRM], Enphase Energy [ENPH], Tesla [TSLA] and SolarEdge [SEDG]. “Rapid and consistent sales growth was a common attribute of today’s largest stocks”, said the team led by Kostin.