Apple shares hit record on report saying autonomous car coming in 2025

Apple shares hit a record on Friday following a report that the company is accelerating efforts to launch a self-driving vehicle. As of early afternoon on Friday, Apple’s stock was up more than 1% to above $160, and its shares are up 21% this year, lifting the company’s market cap past $2.6 trillion. According to the full report from Bloomberg News, the company is pushing internally for a 2025 deadline for an autonomous vehicle.

Apple’s entry into the electric vehicle space could put the company in competition with Tesla as well as emerging players like Rivian and Lucid Motors and traditional automakers that are moving away from fossil fuels. EV stocks have surged in recent months as more consumers and investors bet on what they hope will be the next Tesla.

Rivian went public last week in one of the biggest IPOs of the year, and quickly surpassed the market cap of automakers Ford and General Motors. Shares of Rivian and Lucid, which went public through a special purpose acquisition company in July, have been volatile all week.

Apple’s potential entry into the autonomous vehicle space has long been a topic of speculation and has been connected to an autonomous driving project, had visited automakers and suppliers in Asia, including Toyota Motor Co.   – Get Toyota Motor Corp. Sponsored ADR Report, as part of its early-stage preparations. 

Citigroup analyst Jim Suva argued in March that an electric car rollout could propel Apple to a $3 trillion market cap, while Wedbush analysts Dan Ives, a long-time Apple bull, told TheStreet in August that a so-called Apple Car is “not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. I believe they are continuing to build a vision, the infrastructure, they are looking for partnerships on the battery side. They are not going to miss out on the $5 trillion green tidal wave.”

Lynch, Apple’s vice president of technology, was tabbed to lead Project Titan, the group’s autonomous car project, in early summer. That was in addition to the hiring of BWM’s Ulrich Kranz, a 30-year industry veteran who lead the German automaker’s development of the i3 and i8 electric and hybrid cars.

Apple posted profits of $1.24 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in September, noting that supply chain woes ripped $6 billion from sales amid the tech giant’s first earnings miss in five years. Group revenues, Apple said, rose 29% from last year to $83.4 billion, just shy of analysts’ estimates of an $84.8 billion tally.

Apple’s holiday quarter sales will also be hit by the chip shortage, Cook in an interview said, “we’re doing everything we can do to get more (chips) and also everything we can do operationally to make sure we’re moving just as fast as possible.” Still, CFO Luca Maestri told investors on a conference call that December quarter sales would be “very solid”, and likely hit a record high, with gross margins in the region of 41.5% to 42.5%.