👀 Tesla Sets Sights on Uber & Waymo

Good afternoon! Train heists are making a comeback—only this time, the loot is Nike sneakers. Thieves have been stopping freight trains in remote desert areas, cutting air hoses to force emergency stops, and making off with millions in stolen goods. At least 10 heists in California and Arizona have netted around $2 million worth of Nike shoes, with over 60 suspects facing federal charges.

Authorities say the thefts operate like a “human conveyor belt,” with stolen sneakers passed from train to ground to getaway trucks in seconds. Some robberies have been foiled—police recently recovered $440,000 worth of unreleased Air Jordans. With officials uncovering a network of scouts, drivers, and burglary crews, these heists are starting to look a lot less like petty theft and a lot more like organized crime.

MARKETS

• Stocks took a another hit Thursday, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.6% for its fifth loss in six days. Fresh tariff threats from President Trump had investors bracing for more inflation headaches, while economic uncertainty kept traders on edge. The Nasdaq slid 2.8% in a broad tech sell-off, and the Dow dipped 0.4% as Wall Street struggled to regain its footing.

• The market’s post-election rally is running on fumes, with the S&P 500 now barely holding onto gains from earlier in the year. Investors are looking ahead to upcoming economic data for signs of stability, but with policy risks stacking up, sentiment remains fragile.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

• Rolls-Royce soared 13.91% to a new all-time high after the British jet engine maker posted strong earnings, announced a $1.27 billion buyback, reinstated dividends, and raised forward guidance. ($RYCEY)

• Nutanix climbed 10.37% after strong Q2 earnings, reporting 56 cents per share vs. 47 cents expected, with disgruntled Broadcom customers flocking to the cloud computing company. ($NTNX)

• Mara Holdings rose 5.46% after the crypto miner beat revenue expectations, reporting $214.4 million vs. $187.8 million forecasted. ($MARA)

• Snowflake gained 4.51% after posting Q4 earnings of 30 cents per share, well above the 17 cents expected, with revenue also exceeding estimates. ($SNOW)

• Warner Bros. Discovery popped 4.76% following an earnings beat and subscriber growth, adding 6.4 million new subscribers and projecting 150 million global subscribers by 2026. ($WBD)

What’s down 📉

• IonQ plunged 16.8% after Q4 earnings and guidance missed expectations, posting a 93-cent per share loss vs. the 25-cent loss expected, with revenue forecasts well below analyst estimates. ($IONQ)

• Teladoc Health dropped 13.56% following a larger-than-expected Q4 loss and weaker-than-anticipated forward guidance. ($TDOC)

• Bath & Body Works tumbled 12.71% after management warned that China tariffs could significantly impact its bottom line this year. ($BBWI)

• C3 .ai sank 9.68% despite reporting 26% YoY revenue growth, as results still fell short of analyst expectations. ($AI)

• eBay slumped 8.2% after its Q1 revenue guidance missed Wall Street’s expectations, despite a Q4 beat. ($EBAY)

• Nvidia slid 8.5% after posting strong Q4 earnings and revenue, with concerns over a declining gross profit margin and its narrowest revenue beat in two years. ($NVDA)

• Moderna stumbled 7.42% after reports surfaced that the Department of Health & Human Services is reviewing its avian flu vaccine contract. ($MRNA)

TRANSPORTATION
Tesla Sets Sights on Waymo & Uber in California Ride-Hailing

Tesla is making a serious push into the ride-hailing business, filing for a transportation permit in California—a move that could see the EV maker take on Uber, Lyft, and Waymo in a market it’s been eyeing for years.

Not Just Robotaxis… Yet

The permit, filed with the California Public Utilities Commission, suggests Tesla plans to operate its own fleet of vehicles rather than allowing private owners to offer rides like Uber and Lyft. But the biggest surprise? Tesla’s application mentions driver’s license and drug testing coordination, signaling human drivers—at least for now.

Elon Musk has been hyping up driverless ride-hailing for years, with plans to launch a robotaxi fleet in Texas by Juneand California by year-end. But Tesla still lacks approval to operate fully autonomous vehicles in the state, making this move a stepping stone toward that long-promised future.

A Desperate Play for Growth?

Tesla’s EV sales are slipping, marking its first annual decline in over a decade. With growing competition and softening demand, Musk needs new revenue streams. Enter ride-hailing—an industry Uber and Lyft have dominated for years while Waymo steadily expands its robotaxi footprint in San Francisco.

Musk has said Tesla’s fleet will eventually go driverless, but until regulators approve that, expect Model 3s and Model Ys operating much like a traditional ride-share service.

The Road Ahead: Tesla’s path to autonomy looks clearer in Texas, where self-driving rules are less restrictive than in California. But for now, Tesla is starting small—testing the waters before jumping in with full autonomy.

Uber and Waymo aren’t standing still either—Waymo plans to launch autonomous rides on Uber’s platform in Austin and Atlanta later this year.

Tesla’s ambitions are clear, but its path is murky. The real question: Will Tesla’s ride-hailing push be a game-changer or just another Musk promise that takes years to materialize?

NEWS
Market Movements

• 📉 Nvidia Falls Below $3 Trillion After 8% Stock Drop: Nvidia's stock tumbled over 8%, wiping out $273 billion in market value and pushing its market cap below $3 trillion. Despite strong earnings, concerns over export controls and AI competition weighed on investor sentiment. ($NVDA)

• 📉 Dell sees AI boom despite revenue miss: Dell’s Q4 results were a mixed bag—while revenue fell short at $23.9 billion (missing the $24.55 billion estimate), earnings per share came in stronger than expected at $2.68. But the real headline? The company is betting big on AI, projecting $15 billion in AI server sales this year, up from $10 billion last year. To sweeten the deal for investors, Dell also boosted its dividend by 18% and approved a massive $10 billion stock buyback. ($DELL)

• 🤖 Meta Plans AI App to Compete With ChatGPT: Meta is set to launch a dedicated Meta AI app in Q2 as part of its push to dominate AI. The company is also exploring a paid subscription model, mirroring OpenAI’s ChatGPT strategy. ($META)

• ✂️ Google Lays Off Cloud and HR Staff in Cost-Cutting Move: Google announced layoffs in its cloud and HR divisions, with some roles being relocated overseas. The move follows the CFO’s plan to cut costs while ramping up AI infrastructure spending. ($GOOGL)

• 📜 House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Tech Giants Over Censorship: The House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and others, demanding information on potential foreign government influence over content moderation policies. ($META, $AMZN, $GOOGL, $MSFT)

• 🧠 Tencent Unveils AI Model to Rival DeepSeek: Tencent introduced its latest AI model, boasting faster response times than DeepSeek’s R1 while matching DeepSeek-V3 in knowledge, math, and reasoning. The move strengthens Tencent's AI presence in an increasingly competitive market.

• 🇨🇳 Mercedes-Benz Plans Job Cuts in China Amid EV Pressure: Mercedes-Benz is set to slash workforce costs in China by 25% by 2027, starting with a 10-15% reduction in sales and finance roles. The layoffs come as EV competition intensifies and trade tensions escalate.

• 🛢️ Chevron Loses Venezuela License Over Election Dispute: President Trump revoked Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela, halting its daily export of 240,000 barrels. The move cites a lack of electoral reforms and migrant repatriation progress. ($CVX)

• ⚡ Microsoft Pushes for AI Chip Export Leniency: Microsoft is lobbying the Trump administration to ease restrictions on AI chip exports to U.S. allies, warning that tight controls could push global partners toward Chinese technology. ($MSFT)

• 📱 Meta Weighs Launching Standalone Instagram Reels App: Meta is considering spinning off Instagram Reels into its own app to compete directly with TikTok. The decision would mark another attempt to expand its short-form video dominance. ($META)

COMPUTE
Amazon Unveils Its First Quantum Computing Chip

Amazon just threw its hat into the quantum computing arms race, unveiling Ocelot, its first-ever quantum chip. The move puts AWS in direct competition with Google and Microsoft, both of whom have recently hyped their own quantum breakthroughs.

Quantum: The Next Tech Battleground

Quantum computing is the holy grail of computing—offering mind-blowing speed for tasks like drug discovery, encryption, and AI development. But there’s a catch: quantum computers are notoriously unstable. Even the tiniest heat fluctuation can throw calculations off.

Enter Ocelot. Amazon claims its "cat qubit" tech (yes, as in Schrödinger’s cat) could slash error-correction costs by up to 90%, making quantum systems way more reliable. If true, it’s a big deal—because right now, keeping a quantum system from collapsing is about as easy as carrying a house of cards through a wind tunnel.

Hype vs. Reality

Of course, no one’s running Fortnite on a quantum computer anytime soon. Even Amazon’s quantum hardware lead admits we’re a decade away (at best) from real-world use cases. Google, Microsoft, and now Amazon are all racing toward quantum supremacy, but for now, this is more about bragging rights than practical applications.

Amazon’s Endgame

Ocelot isn’t a commercial product—yet. But Amazon’s playbook is obvious: build the tech, perfect it, then roll it out as a premium AWS service. With Braket, its cloud-based quantum computing platform, already live, Amazon is positioning itself as the go-to provider when quantum computing finally hits the mainstream.

Bottom line? Quantum computing is still a moonshot, but Amazon just signaled it plans to be one of the first to plant a flag.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Tomorrow

All eyes are on tomorrow’s inflation data, with the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report set to drop. The core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is the Fed’s go-to inflation gauge and will play a big role in shaping its next policy decision.

The report also arrives at a critical moment for economic policy, as the White House weighs new tariffs. A hotter-than-expected inflation print could make the administration think twice about aggressive trade measures, while a softer number might encourage a tougher stance. Either way, the Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady at its next meeting.

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

• 🤝 Zelensky Set to Sign U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Washington to finalize an agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. However, the deal does not include explicit security guarantees, leaving major defense concerns unresolved.

• 📰 Jeff Bezos Reshapes Washington Post's Opinion Section: Jeff Bezos announced a shift in The Washington Post’s editorial stance to focus on defending personal liberties and free markets. The decision led to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor and sparked debate over ideological shifts in journalism.

• 🎭 Actress Michelle Trachtenberg Dies at 39: Michelle Trachtenberg, known for roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, has passed away at 39. The cause of death remains undetermined, though authorities found no signs of foul play.

• 🎙️ YouTube Dominates Podcasting with 1 Billion Monthly Listeners: More than 1 billion people watch podcasts on YouTube monthly, surpassing Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Alphabet has aggressively invested in podcasting, offering creators up to $300,000 for video versions to solidify its position as the leading podcast platform.

• 💻 Slack Suffers Major Outage: Millions of Slack users experienced disruptions as the platform went down for hours. The outage affected messaging, channels, and workflow automation, prompting concerns about reliability. Parent company Salesforce is investigating the cause.

• ⚖️ Supreme Court Signals Support for Reverse Discrimination Suits: Justices expressed strong agreement in a case challenging legal barriers to proving workplace discrimination against majority groups. A ruling in favor of the plaintiff could set a precedent for increased litigation against DEI policies.

• 💉 Measles Outbreak in Texas Claims First U.S. Deaths in a Decade: A Texas measles outbreak has resulted in at least 124 infections and two deaths, the first in the U.S. in ten years. Many cases involve unvaccinated children, raising concerns over declining immunization rates.

• 📉 Trump Administration Plans More Federal Worker Layoffs: President Donald Trump directed government agencies to prepare for significant staffing reductions, with the EPA facing potential cuts of up to 65%. Elon Musk, an unofficial adviser on cost-cutting, attended the meeting. The move is expected to spark legal challenges.

• 📜 House Republicans Pass Budget Framework with Major Tax Cuts: The House approved a budget resolution featuring $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending reductions over the next decade. The plan includes a $4 trillion borrowing limit increase but faces pushback over deficit concerns.

• 🇮🇱 Israel-Hamas Exchange Concludes First Phase of Ceasefire: Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, concluding the first phase of the ceasefire. Negotiations continue in Cairo to extend the truce as tensions remain high.

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