Trending tickers: The latest investor updates on Tesla, Micron, FedEx, Babcock and Halfords
Sales of Tesla (TSLA) cars across Europe fell for the fifth month in a row, according to data released on Wednesday morning.
The figures published by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed that Tesla's new car registrations in Europe dropped 27.9% in May, to 13,863 vehicles, compared to the same month last year. That came even as sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) across Europe increased by 27.2% from a year earlier.
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The carmaker's shares were little changed in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning, having fallen 2.4% in the previous session amid reports that the its robotaxi launch had hit some early roadblocks.
In videos posted on social media platform X, Tesla robotaxis appeared to violate local traffic laws by driving above speed limits, swerving across lanes, and hesitating to turn.
Chipmaker Micron (MU) is in focus ahead of the release of its third-quarter earnings after the US market close on Wednesday.
The company has said it expects revenue for the three months to come in at $8.8bn (£6.5bn), plus or minus $200m, while diluted earnings per share (EPS) are expected to come in at $1.57, plus or minus $0.10.
That would be an increase from revenue of $6.81bn and diluted EPS of $0.62 for the same quarter last year.
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The results come on the heels of an announcement earlier in June that Micron and the Trump administration were set to increase the company's investment in the US to $200bn.
Of this amount, $150bn is set to be invested in domestic memory manufacturing, while $50bn will go towards research and development, which Micron said would create about 90,000 jobs.
Shares in Micron (MU) are up 52% year-to-date and are trading close to all-time highs.
Shares in FedEx (FDX) were down nearly 6% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after the logistics giant's guidance fell short of expectations.
FedEx's fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates, with revenue of $22.2bn coming in ahead of an expected $21.75bn. Adjusted earnings of $6.07 per share also bested consensus forecasts of $5.81.
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However, for the first quarter, FedEx said it expected adjusted earnings to be in the range of $3.40 to $4.00 per share, compared to Wall Street expectations of $4.03.
As for the full year ahead, FedEx said it was forecasting cost reductions of $1bn from its transformation programmes. In addition, the company expected capital spending of $4.5bn, with the focus on investing in its network optimisation and efficiency improvements, including fleet and facility modernisation and automation.
On the London market, shares of Babcock International (BAB.L) jumped 12.5% on Wednesday morning, on the back of the defence firm's latest results.
CEO David Lockwood hailed a "new era for defence" in the company's preliminary full-year results on Wednesday, in which it posted revenue of £4.8bn ($6.5bn) versus £4.4bn last year.
The engineering company reported operating profit of £363.9m, up from £241.6m last year. Babcock also recommended a final dividend of 4.5p per share, taking the total payout for the year to 6.5p per share, compared to 5p last year.
In addition, Babcock announced a £200m share buyback, which it planned to execute over the 2026 fiscal year.
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Shares in Babcock are up 132% year-to-date, buoyed by government pledges to spend more on defence.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "The shift in foreign policy under the Trump administration is pushing European countries to up their military spending, although much of this will be yet to come through, so the fact Babcock is already seeing improved trading is encouraging.
'Some eyebrows may be raised at the decision to launch the company's debut share buyback when its share price is at its highest level in more than a decade and not a million miles off its all-time high from 2014. Although, in fairness, this is merely following the recent trend for UK companies to return an increasing proportion of the capital they dole out to shareholders this way."
Despite beating expectations with its latest results, shares in UK cycling and car products retailer Halfords (HFD.L) were muted on Wednesday morning, as the company offered some cautious guidance for the year ahead.
In preliminary results for the year to 28 March, Halfords reported underlying pre-tax profit of £38.4m, besting a company-provided analyst consensus forecast of £36.3m. Revenue of £1.72bn was up 2.5% on a like-for-like basis.
Halfords CEO Henry Birch said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the year ahead, noting "continued macroeconomic uncertainty and its impact on the way our customers feel about spending their money".
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"While inflation appears to be moderating and interest rates are falling, the negative outlook for employment and the impact of geopolitical instability continues to weigh on confidence and is keeping the savings ratio high despite rising real incomes," he said.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "Halfords has become the latest retailer to issue a cautious update on the outlook for consumer spending, which comes despite its steady expansion into the higher-margin car servicing business.
"The rise in earnings for the autocentre division suggests the new CEO appointment is bearing fruit. Overall, today's numbers seem to provide the justification for the recent share price bounce to the current eighteen-month highs."
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