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China’s Xiaomi is selling so many electric cars it’s closer to breaking even

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The Xiaomi SU7 on display at the Mobile World Congress 2024.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi‘s new electric vehicle is selling better than expected, putting it closer to break-even despite undercutting Tesla‘s Model 3 on price.

Xiaomi has received more than 70,000 orders for its electric SU7 sedan as of April 20, close to the company’s original full-year target for deliveries this year, CEO Lei Jun told investors Tuesday.

The company now aims to deliver 100,000 of its new EV this year, he said.

Xiaomi released the SU7 in late March with a price about $4,000 less than Tesla’s Model 3, and has started deliveries. The Chinese smartphone company is set to livestream a car update at 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, as the Beijing auto show kicks off.

“Breakeven would be realized if annual sales reach 300[k]-400k,” Citi analysts said in a report, citing the investor day. They raised their autos segment gross profit margin forecast to 6% this year, versus a 10% loss previously expected.

Why it's so hard to start an EV company

The Citi analysts raised their earnings per share forecast by 25% this year, and now expect Xiaomi to ship 100,000 cars this year, 200,000 next year and 280,000 in 2026.

For context, Tesla China sold more than 600,000 cars last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Li Auto, which technically sells mostly hybrids, sold 376,000 cars last year, while Nio sold just over 160,000 cars last year, the data showed.

Li Auto had a gross margin of 23.5% in the fourth quarter last year, while Nio’s gross margin was 7.5%, both up from the year-ago period.

Tesla’s gross margin has successively declined over the past five quarters to 17.4% in the first three months of this year. Gross margin figures don’t account for operating expenses.

When Xiaomi launched the SU7 last month, Lei said the company would be selling each car at a loss.

But on Tuesday, he estimated gross profit margin of around 5% to 10% for Xiaomi’s auto business, and noted that sales are greater than expected, while expressing thanks to suppliers on reducing costs.

“We are currently in discussions with supply chain partners on how to increase production capacity and further support on costs,” he said, according to a CNBC translation of a Chinese-language investor day transcript provided by the company.

Sticking to China for now

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Trump takes shot at Bank of America, revives claims of discrimination

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President Donald Trump on Thursday accused the CEOs of the two largest American banks of refusing to serve conservatives, reviving a 2024 campaign talking point that the two companies deny.

Speaking via video to an assembly held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump lashed out at Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as part of a question-and-answer session.

“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump said.

“You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said.

Moynihan, who was among a few executives selected to ask the president questions during the Q&A, didn’t immediately respond to the accusation.

Both banks deny refusing service to conservatives.

“We serve more than 70 million clients, we welcome conservatives and have no political litmus test,” a Bank of America official said in an email.

“We have never and would never close an account for political reasons, full stop,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said in a statement. “We follow the law and guidance from our regulators and have long said there are problems with the current framework Washington must address.”

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, caused in part by shoddy lending standards at major banks, U.S. regulators increased pressure on lenders to purge clients in industries considered higher risk for money laundering or fraud. That meant that payday lenders, pawn ships, firearms dealers, and those involved in pornography had their accounts revoked, often with little notice or explanation as to why.

As recently as October, Trump singled out Bank of America, repeating claims that it discriminates against conservatives.

The accusations may have roots in allegations from state attorneys general last year. In April, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to Moynihan, accusing the bank of canceling the accounts of “multiple religious groups with mainstream views in the last three years.”

In a May letter in response to Kobach, Bank of America said accounts are de-banked for reasons including a change of stated purpose of the account, the expected level or type of activity on the account, or failure to verify certain documentation required by law.

One account highlighted by Kobach was de-banked because it engaged in debt collection services, which was inconsistent with the Bank of America division that was servicing the account, according to the bank’s response.

“We would like to provide clarity around a very straightforward matter: Religious beliefs or political view-based beliefs are never a factor in any decisions related to our client’s accounts,” the bank said in that letter. “Bank of America provides banking services to non-profit organizations affiliated with faith-based communities throughout the United States. We have banking and investing relationships with approximately 120,000 faith-based clients in the United States.”

Influential people in Trump’s orbit have continued to claim that banks are discriminating based on religion or politics.

In November, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm that bears his name, told podcaster Joe Rogan that dozens of startup founders had been de-banked in recent years. Andreesen has said he advises Trump on technology matters.

Bank of America shares were up more than 1% on Thursday, with JPMorgan shares higher as well.

The banking industry is seen as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the election of Trump, in large part because of expectations he would kill Biden-era regulatory efforts to force banks to hold tens of billions of dollars in additional capital against losses, make annual stress tests less opaque and drop efforts to cap credit card and overdraft limitations.

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: AA, GE, EA, AAL

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BlackRock’s Fink says that the bond market will tell us where we’re going

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Larry Fink at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said President Donald Trump’s efforts to unleash capital in the private sector could have unintended consequences that would hurt the stock market.

“I’m cautiously optimistic. That being said, I have scenarios where it could be pretty bad,” Fink said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I believe if it’ll unlock all this private capital, we’re going to have enormous growth. At the same time, some of this is going to create new inflationary pressures. I do believe that’s probably the risk that is not factored into the markets. I think the bond market is going to tell us where we’re going.”

The 72-year-old chief of the world’s largest asset manager said much will depend on how quickly the private sector can put capital to work. Trump has already touted massive private-sector promises to spend in the U.S., the latest example being the Stargate joint venture, where SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle would invest $100 billion immediately for artificial intelligence infrastructure in the country. Plans call for the project to eventually invest a total of $500 billion.

“There are some very large inflationary pressures that we all have to be aware of,” Fink said. “And depending on how this plays out, there is a scenario where we’re going to have much more elevated interest rates because of inflation. And that’s going to have a very negative impact on the equity market.”

Fink said there is a possibility that the 10-year Treasury yield could retest the 5% level and even reach 5.5% if inflation re-accelerates in a meaningful way. If that happens, Fink said it would “shock” the equity market.

The benchmark 10-year note yield last traded at 4.62%.

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