The Bot Brief

There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come."     

- Victor Hugo

Bots in the News:

With continued weakness by its Asian components and profit givebacks by two defense manufacturers, the Bot Index declined a mere 82 basis points for the week. The primary mitigating positive force within the Index was produced by EV maker Tesla.  Tesla delivered 462,890 EVs in Q3, up from Q2's 433,956 and Q3 2023's 435,059. Those statistics along with an earnings and revenue beat and an optimistic estimate for 2025 finances by Elon Musk pushed the stock upward by nearly 22%. The cybertaxis, the company’s FSD software, battery subsidiary, the growing interest in its fleet trucking and advancements in technology have led the Motley Fool to report, “Tesla Makes Money Selling Electric Vehicles, but 86% of Its Earnings Could Soon Come From This Instead (its FSD software sales to outside manufacturers). Coincidently, Jim Cramer touted the stock during his program during the week. The stock soared on massive volume that reached 204,491,900

Also producing positive results were Teledyne (+4.25%) and Oceaneering International (+5.56%). Teledyne reported excellent results with net income up 32% from 3Q 2023, profit margin at 18% (up from 14% in 3Q 2023) and earnings per share to $5.54 from $4.22.

Oceaneering’s upswing was also due to its earnings report which was below EPS estimates, however, better than expected revenues. The company reported it had purchased $10 million in company stock during the past quarter, making potential earnings per share more attractive for the future.

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The weaker end of the performance spectrum included two defense manufacturers. Lockheed Martin pulled back 8% and a similar decline was posted by Textron.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association (now A3 Automation), Member IEEE.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists, and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any companies that may from time to time be featured in the brief and its commentaries, analysis, opinions, and research represent the subjective view of Balcones Investment Research, LLC. Due to the complex and rapidly changing nature of the subject matter, the company makes no assurances as to the absolute accuracy of the material presented.