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British Columbia stops rebates on Tesla (TSLA) chargers, battery installations. (00:32) Ulta Beauty’s (ULTA) Q4 results offset conservative guidance. (01:35) Li Auto (LI) earnings: Q4 beats EPS estimates, misses on revenue by $60M; initiates Q1 outlook. (02:52)
This is an abridged transcript.
British Columbia has pulled rebates for residents to install Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) chargers.
BC Hydro, the province’s power company, said in a notice on its website that Tesla’s vehicle chargers, batteries, and inverters are not eligible for the rebates, effective March 12.
“The Government of BC and BC Hydro are taking action to preference Canadian goods in our rebate programs going forward and to exclude, where practicable, US produced goods,” the notice said.
Other brands from American automakers, such as Ford (F) and Rivian (RIVN), appear to be unaffected, according to a search on BC Hydro’s website. (Ford makes vehicles in Canada.)
According to BC Hydro’s website, the province’s rebates may cover up to half of the purchase price of a charger and installation.
Neither Tesla, BC Hydro nor the province’s Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Seeking Alpha.
The news out of British Columbia came the same day as Tesla sent a letter to U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer, warning of harmful impacts on automakers and consumers by retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) is reversing Thursday’s losses during the regular session.
Better-than-expected Q4 results that included above-consensus comparable store sales has raised the stock 7% in premarket trading.
Driven by a 3% increase in prices, comparable store sales were up 1.5% in Q4, nearly double what the street was expecting. But due to an extra week in FY23, net sales were down 1.9% to $3.48B, still beating expectations by $10M. This contributed to a much better-than-expected profit of $8.46 per share, $1.31 better than estimates.
Although Q4 results exceeded expectations, guidance for the current year was more conservative.
For FY25, Ulta (NASDAQ:ULTA) anticipates total sales to be between $11.5B to $11.6B with the top-end below the consensus forecast of $11.67B. Profits are targeted for $22.50 to $22.90 per share, down from $25.34 in FY24 and below estimates of $23.54.
Li Auto press release (NASDAQ:LI): Q4 Non-GAAP EPADS of $0.52 beats by $0.12.
Revenue of $6.1B (+3.7% Y/Y) misses by $60M.
Total deliveries for the fourth quarter of 2024 equaled 158,696 vehicles, representing a 20.4% year-over-year increase.
Vehicle sales were $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 5.6% from the fourth quarter of 2023 and an increase of 3.2% from the third quarter of 2024.
For the first quarter of 2025, the Company expects:
Deliveries of vehicles to be between 88,000 and 93,000 vehicles, representing a year-over-year increase of 9.5% to 15.7%.
Total revenues to be between RMB23.4 billion (US$3.2 billion) and RMB24.7 billion (US$3.4 billion) vs. consensus of $4.90 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of 8.7% to 3.5%.
Li auto is down 3.5% premarket.
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O-I Glass (OI) will host an Investor Day event in New York City. “The Power of Glass” event will feature presentations and a question-and-answer session with several members of the company’s global leadership team.
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Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC) will hold an Investor Day at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. Members of senior management will be discussing with investors and analysts the company’s strategy, competitive advantages, and approach to capital allocation.
Now let’s take a look at the markets ahead of the opening bell. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is up 1% at $67/barrel. Bitcoin is down 0.6% at $82,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.3% and the DAX is flat. The market in India is closed for a holiday.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) +6% – Shares surged as Canaccord upgraded the stock to Buy, citing its leadership in connected fitness.
On today’s economic calendar:
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