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Stellantis (STLA) shareholders sue company in U.S. after disappointing earnings – report. (00:23) Toyota (TM) considering an all hybrid line-up – report. (01:35) Kroger (KR) pledges $1B in cuts to grocery items if it can complete Albertsons (ACI) deal – report. (02:48)
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Shareholders of Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) have sued the automaker in the United States, arguing that they have been defrauded by the company hiding rising inventories and other weaknesses, before posting disappointing earnings which resulted in a decline in stock price.
Reuters reported that the complaint was filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court. The report added that Stellantis (STLA) artificially inflated its stock price for much of 2024 by making “overwhelmingly positive” assessments about inventories, pricing power, new products and operating margin.
Shareholders further noted that the truth came out on July 25 when Stellantis (STLA) said first-half adjusted operating income fell 40% to 8.46 billion euros ($9.28 billion), below the 8.85 billion euros that analysts expected.
“This lawsuit is without merit and the company intends to vigorously defend itself,” Stellantis said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Thursday’s lawsuit reportedly seeks unspecified damages for Stellantis shareholders between Feb. 15 and July 24, 2024.
Year-to-date the automaker’s shares have plunged 32%.
Toyota (NYSE:TM) may be phasing out ICE vehicles in favor of an all-hybrid line-up.
“Going forward, we plan to evaluate, carline by carline, whether going all-hybrid makes sense,” Toyota’s head of sales and marketing for Toyota North America told Reuters.
This decision is being made as demand for all electric vehicles begins to slow and as competitors begin shifting resources back towards gas-powered vehicles.
This evaluation includes the company’s luxury line, Lexus. Toyota has already stopped making a gas-powered Camry beginning with its 2025 model year, while the Land Cruiser and Sienna minivan are already only available as hybrids.
Toyota has been one of the few holdouts among automakers who have not completely embraced the EV revolution by keeping one foot firmly in the hybrid market, starting with the Prius in 2000. Instead of a broad EV lineup, the company has just one EV model, the bZ4X, with 15 hybrid models and 2 plug-in hybrid models (the company also has a fuel-cell EV, the Mirai).
Toyota/Lexus (TM) were at the top of the hybrid field with 657K sold in the U.S. last year.
Kroger (NYSE:KR) is planning to reduce grocery prices by $1 billion if it can complete its almost $25 billion purchase of Albertsons (NYSE:ACI). Albertsons and Kroger both rose 1% on Thursday.
Kroger had originally committed to cutting prices by $500 million with an Albertsons (ACI) deal, though has doubled that to $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, which cited a Kroger spokesperson.
The pledge comes as the Federal Trade Commission’s trial to block the Albertsons’ (ACI) deal is scheduled to start on Aug. 26 and Kroger (KR) is trying to appease the regulator in the face of the trial.
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Catalyst watch:
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Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P are flat and the Nasdaq is up 0.1%. Crude oil is down 1.5% at $76/barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.3% at $58,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.4% and the DAX is up 0.8%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock continued its upward trajectory, rising 3% in pre-market trading after closing 50% higher the previous day. The company’s Q2 earnings met expectations and confirmed its on-track progress for a commercial satellite launch in the coming weeks, boosting investor confidence.
On today’s economic calendar:
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10:00 am Consumer Sentiment
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1:25 pm Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee will participate in a fireside chat before the Angeles Investors’ Q3 Summit and Awards Event.
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