Consumer Goods Stocks In The NEWS – Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)

Shares of  Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA: NASDAQ) dropped -0.70% and closed at $228.95 in the last trading session. The last trading range of the stock ranges between $225.54 and $231.98.

A few weeks ago, Elon Musk put out a call on Twitter for “hard-core software engineers” to work on Tesla Motors Inc.’s autonomous car program. The company’s inbox was flooded, according to WSJ

While Mr. Musk was only looking for 100 prospects, he may want to keep the other applicants within ear shot. The electric-car company, which recently released its first sport-utility vehicle and will soon open a battery factory in Nevada, is looking to add thousands of employees in coming years just as an auto industry showdown for tech talent is brewing.

Tesla isn’t the only player in town. The 12-year-old company is tussling with a growing mass of auto makers crowding into California looking for people capable of helping develop software and other components needed to power electric or autonomous vehicles.

Several startups, including Chinese-backed Faraday Future Inc., Karma Automotive Inc. and Atieva Inc., have been luring people away from Tesla for their own electric-car ventures.

Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. are among traditional auto makers placing big bets in Tesla’s backyard.

A Tesla spokeswoman said “we’re a career destination for extremely talented hard-core software engineers, and Elon’s tweet opened the gate to a new wave of exceptional candidates.”

Building on Mr. Musk’s fame may be a more cost-effective strategy than relying on outside firms. Fees paid to placement agencies for software engineers in the Bay Area have doubled to around $30,000 to $40,000 per employee in the past two years, said Paul Harty, president of Seven Step RPO, a recruiting outsourcing company. WSJ Report

Nike Inc (NKE: NYSE) jumped 0.97% and closed at $63.79 in the last trading session. The last trading range of the stock ranges between $62.80 and $63.88. The company’s Market capitalization is $107.68B with the total Outstanding Shares of 674.74M, as Wall Street firms continue their bullish outlook on the apparel and footwear company.

Argus recently reiterated its buy rating and raised its price target to $77 from $75, adding that the company continues to improvement market share.

Nike is likely to see higher margins due to its recent price hikes and moderating input costs. Adding this bullish news, the company may see a less negative impact from foreign exchange.

Similarly, DA Davidson also reiterated its buy rating on the stock and set a $78 price target on the stock.

Shares of General Motors Company (GM: NYSE), ended its last trade with -0.26% loss, and closed at $34.51. The Average Volume of the company is at 11.46M with the Outstanding Shares of 1.56B. The Earnings per Share of the company stands at $2.73. General Motors Co. is facing calls to add air bags as standard equipment on its popular compact cars in Mexico, reflecting broader pressure on big auto makers to include basic safety equipment in their vehicles even when governments don’t require it, according to  WSJ

Four American consumer-advocacy groups, including Consumer Reports and Public Citizen, have sent a letter to GM Chief Executive Mary Barra calling on the company to make air bags a standard feature globally. At least one of those groups said the company hasn’t responded.

“Auto safety cannot only be for citizens living in wealthy countries,” the U.S. consumer groups wrote in their letter to GM’s Ms. Barra. “Yet GM’s practice of providing some consumers with the best safety technologies, while not even providing air bags to others, strikes us as a morally indefensible decision.”

A GM spokesman said most auto makers offer some models without air bags in Mexico and Latin America. The company is considering adding air bags as standard equipment on certain models and option packages, he said.

Light-vehicle sales in Mexico have increased 19% through November, making it among the fastest-growing emerging markets for autos. GM, which is No. 2 in sales there after Nissan Motor Co., sells that country’s most popular passenger car, the Chevrolet Aveo, but offers air bags only as an option, which many buyers choose to go without.

Latin America’s independent New Car Assessment Program recently assigned the Aveo zero stars in a crash test, calling the vehicle “unstable” with “a high risk of life threatening injuries.”

Ms. Barra has been under pressure to clean up GM’s safety image after a crisis over faulty ignition switches linked to dozens of deaths and injuries in the U.S. The crisis clouded the early days of her tenure and cost the auto maker billions of dollars in penalties and other damages. WSJ Report

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About Travis Garlick 1822 Articles
Been writing about and trading stocks since 2013. Manage a group of micro-cap investors on Facebook with over 15,000 members. Turned $8,500 into 185k the first year I started trading stocks and haven't looked back.