Latest news with #GerberKawasaki
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘The halo effect of all the AI spend': Investment advisor discusses Mag 7 earnings
Hatem Dhiab, Managing Partner at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the outlook for the tech sector amid earnings season and tariff treaths. An investment advisor says he's impressed by technology giants incorporating artificial intelligence and that a digital transformation is getting started for the 'Magnificent Seven.' 'It's really the beginning of a multi-year cycle,' said Hatem Dhiab, managing partner of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment, in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Wednesday. 'I think this quarter, we saw the halo effect of all the AI spend that is happening across all these Mag 7 companies.' The Magnificent Seven refers to a group of influential U.S. technology companies, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms, whose stocks have significantly driven market growth in recent years. 'Apple is a company to watch' While Apple's Siri product has been out for over a decade, Dhiab said results have been lackluster. However, he said Apple has been changing its strategy by spending more money to make Siri a top AI companion in the market. 'If you looked at their R&D (research and development) spend this quarter, you've seen that they spent almost US$9 billion,' said Dhiab. 'I think Apple is a company to watch, but it's not there yet. I think what's exciting, though, is the fact that their iPhone sales are back up, which means that Apple is coming back to growth.' Apple, which has struggled due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, has recently highlighted plans for more AI tools, making products more intuitive. It also plans to release an iOS 26 upgrade in September around the same time Apple traditionally rolls out the next iPhone models. Dhiab said that while there was a hit to demand from customers buying iPhones in late spring due to tariffs, the company has a brand affinity with users. 'In my firm, we just upgraded all of our devices, and nobody wanted to buy anything but Apple devices,' said Dhiab. 'I think people have a huge affinity to the product. We love our iPhones. We can't live without them.' 'Superintelligence' for AI Dhiab said he was impressed by Meta's second quarter financial results. The tech company reported that 3.48 billion people used one or more of its applications (Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram) in June, up six per cent year over year. In the earnings release, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, emphasized his ambitions for developing what he calls 'personal superintelligence for everyone in the world' with AI systems. 'Meta is really about engagement,' said Dhiab. 'If you look at the engagement numbers, it's up 20 per cent for Instagram, for example. It's really impressive. I think what Meta has done is incorporate AI into a lot of its products already, and it's showing into the bottom line.' The company's revenue also grew by 22 per cent to $47.52 billion in the second quarter. Microsoft to benefit from AI: advisor Microsoft, which recently soared past a $4 trillion valuation, is already seeing strong results from its AI spending spree, Dhiab noted. The companies' suite of applications, including Azure, Outlook and Microsoft 365, highlighting the $30 billion capital expenditure to meet AI demand, he said. 'If you look at the numbers from Microsoft, you've seen the halo effect of AI through other products,' said Dhiab. 'Azure was up almost 35 per cent and outlook is up. Every product that they have is up quite a bit, and simply because they're incorporating their AI processes around their whole software stack. I think if you think about that, just that technology upgrade that's happening over the next few years, Microsoft is probably the best position to benefit from it, because they are really an enterprise.' Microsoft says it's building a full-stack AI app and agent factory that 'empowers every developer not just to use AI, but to create with it'. Azure AI Foundry will reportedly provide a unified platform for building, fine-tuning, and deploying intelligent agents with confidence while Foundry Local brings open-source models to the edge enabling flexible, on-device inferencing across billions of devices, according to a company memo. Windows AI Foundry will build on the foundation, integrating Foundry Local into Windows 11 to 'support a secure, low-latency local AI development lifecycle deeply aligned with the Windows platform'
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ross Gerber Calls Tesla's Q2 Report 'Garbage.' He Says It's 'Sad And Depressing' To See The Company Is In Decline
Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) second-quarter report didn't sit well with longtime Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber, who pulled no punches in an interview following the release. 'Yeah, I mean, it's garbage,' the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, told Yahoo Finance, just after the report was released. 'It's sad and depressing to me that this is a business in decline when it should be... a growing business, and it's not.'Don't Miss: 7,000+ investors have joined Timeplast's mission to eliminate microplastics—now it's your turn to $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. Revenue Down, Sentiment Lower On July 23, Tesla reported $22.5 billion in revenue for the second quarter, down 12% from a year earlier, short of Wall Street's $22.8 billion estimate. Automotive revenue fell even more sharply, dropping 16% year-over-year to $16.66 billion. Per-share earnings were 40 cents, missing the expected 42 cents. Operating income dropped 42% to $923 million, with operating margins falling to 4.1%. Gerber criticized Tesla's shrinking cash flow, noting that the company is now essentially break-even without regulatory credits. 'The regulatory credits are going down every quarter and they're going to be gone soon,' he said. 'And the prices are going up on the vehicles soon. So I'm just like, man, you know, this sucks.' Deliveries also fell to 384,122 vehicles, down from 443,956 in the same period last year. Production held steady at just over 410,000 units. Trending: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." High-End Sales Collapse And Brand Troubles Gerber pointed to a 54% drop in sales of Tesla's high-end vehicles, including the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck. While he said he likes the Cybertruck personally, he criticized Tesla for not doing enough to market it. He also warned that no matter how many new models Tesla produces, it won't matter if customers aren't interested. 'It doesn't matter how many products you come up with if people don't want to buy them,' Gerber said. 'They just don't seem to want to address that issue.' While Tesla touted early production of a more affordable model set for volume release late this year, Gerber was skeptical. He acknowledged the need for a lower-cost vehicle but doubted that a smaller Model Y would move the needle. 'You're going to lose—you're going to cannibalize more of your business,' he warned. Musk's Influence And Image Problem The Tesla bull didn't shy away from addressing what he sees as a core issue: CEO Elon Musk's behavior. 'Even if they came out with a golden car that flew, people wouldn't buy it because it's Elon Musk's car,' Gerber argued that Musk's political commentary and public actions have alienated potential buyers. 'Elon's political, not just opinions, but his actual behavior in public is just super inappropriate and turns off basically everybody now,' he said. 'Until he wants to address that, I still think it's going to be hard for Tesla to grow.' Though Gerber supports Musk returning to a more active CEO role—'The CEO of the company should actually work at the company'—he said that won't fix the brand image alone. 'Probably the best thing he could do is work at Tesla and never tweet again,' he added. Gerber also isn't convinced that robotaxis are a game-changer. 'What is so exciting about a business that's been around for a long time?' he said. 'I get in a Waymo. It takes me from A to B. Costs me 20 bucks. Big deal.' He also expects Tesla to eventually acquire xAI, Musk's AI startup, which would give Musk more control of Tesla. 'Sadly, I think Tesla's shareholders are going to vastly overpay for xAI,' he said. 'They need the cash out of Tesla's balance sheet for xAI to grow.' Despite all his concerns, Gerber said he's still long Tesla and isn't betting against Musk. But he's clear-eyed about what needs to change: 'Maybe in a year things get better. But if he doesn't change the way he's acting, I don't see how anything gets better.' Read Next: These five entrepreneurs are worth $223 billion – Imagn Images UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Ross Gerber Calls Tesla's Q2 Report 'Garbage.' He Says It's 'Sad And Depressing' To See The Company Is In Decline originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Tesla's Business Is in Decline, Says Ross Gerber
Ross Gerber, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management co-founder, president and CEO, says it's sad, but Tesla's business is in decline. Tesla's second-earnings missed expectations and revenue fell 12% to $22.5 billion. He speaks on "Bloomberg The Close." (Source: Bloomberg)
CNN
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Tesla shareholders want a full-time CEO. That's not how Musk works
This is a crucial year for Tesla. Just ask Elon Musk. In January, he described 2025 as 'maybe the most important' in the company's history, with the admittedly ambitious goals of releasing its long-promised robotaxi service and humanoid robots. But Musk's attention was monopolized by a high-profile role in the Trump administration as problems at Tesla began to mount. Even after stepping very far away from that role, Musk remains focused on a wide range of activities outside of Tesla, including starting a third political party and trying to fix problems at X, his social media platform. The leaves Tesla — the most valuable automaker on the planet, employing 125,000 worldwide — missing one thing every other major company has: a full-time boss focused on its future. Instead, the company has a chief executive who is so polarizing its costing the company sales and likely the ability to attract talent. While Tesla's board and shareholders aren't likely to show him the door, they probably should. 'To have one of the biggest companies in the world, not have a full-time CEO is unheard of,' said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, an investment firm and one of the early investors in Tesla. Gerber, a previous fan of the company and Musk, thinks he has now become a problem for Tesla. 'The fact of the matter is that Tesla is a massive company that needs a lot of attention, and it just isn't getting it,' Gerber told CNN. Tesla faces a slew of problems, like plunging profits and the biggest drop in sales in the company's history, partly due to severe brand damage caused by Musk's political activities. Then there's regulatory credits, a huge source of revenue for Tesla, disappearing under the tax and spending bill just passed by Congress. The bill also took away a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers, which will further cut into demand. Meanwhile, Tesla's once-high-flying stock has lost more than a third of its value since hitting a record high last December. A company facing such serious problems needs a CEO who is laser-focused. The mounting problems even have some Tesla bulls believing there needs to be more constraints on Musk. 'We believe this is a tipping point in the Tesla story and ultimately the Tesla Board needs to act now and set the ground rules for Musk going forward around his political ambitions and actions,' Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note to clients this week. Ives said the board should impose rules for how much time Musk must spend at Tesla and introduce an oversight committee for his political activities. 'Tesla is heading into one of the most important stages of its growth cycle with the autonomous and robotics future now on the doorstep and cannot have Musk spending more and more time creating a political party which will require countless time, energy, and political capital,' Ives wrote. Tesla did not respond to CNN's request for comment on calls for Musk to spend more time at the company. However, Musk responded to Ives' suggestion by posting on X, 'Shut up, Dan.' But it's not just analysts calling for Musk to be required to show up at the job that made him the richest person on the planet. A number of Tesla shareholders, including some Democrats who oversee the investment of public sector pension fund money in Tesla stock, complained in May to Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm that Musk's other activities are hurting the company. 'Musk's outside endeavors appear to have diverted his time and attention from actively managing Tesla's operations, as any other chief executive officer of a publicly traded company would be expected to do,' said the letter. 'The current crisis at Tesla puts into sharp focus the long-term problems at the company stemming from the CEO's absence.' Even if Musk is forced to focus solely on Tesla, Gerber says Musk doesn't seem excited anymore about its core EV business, which continues to lose market share even as sales of electric vehicles increase around the globe. 'He doesn't want to be in the car business anymore,' said Gerber. 'He knows that everybody hates him. So, he thinks, 'Let's just focus on this robotaxi business and making robots, because if I put a big shiny object in front of people, they'll be distracted from the reality that Tesla has real problems and I don't have a solution for them.'' Tesla fans will argue that what matters now is the rollout of its robotaxi service, as well as developments in self-driving, robots and artificial intelligence. But there are serious questions as to whether Musk is the right person to oversee the challenging transition. For example, the robotaxi business finally debuted last month in Austin, Texas, but on a very limited basis and only for invited guests, not the general public. That is far behind the robotaxi efforts of Alphabet's Waymo, which is already providing more than 250,000 paid rides a week in Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Gerber said he still drives a Tesla himself and has made more than $100 million on investments in the company. But he says he's sold virtually all his Tesla shares and advised clients to do the same. Gerber said he's frustrated because, with the right leadership, the company could achieve all its goals. But Musk, he says, is not the right leader. 'I don't think he has any grasp or grip on reality and any way at this point, and it doesn't seem to be anybody there to shake him and be like, 'Dude, you know, you're not seeing the world like that everybody else right now,'' he said. But Gerber also doesn't see the Tesla board putting any limits on Musk, let alone replacing him. 'He's not going anywhere,' he said.
CNN
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Tesla shareholders want a full-time CEO. That's not how Musk works
This is a crucial year for Tesla. Just ask Elon Musk. In January, he described 2025 as 'maybe the most important' in the company's history, with the admittedly ambitious goals of releasing its long-promised robotaxi service and humanoid robots. But Musk's attention was monopolized by a high-profile role in the Trump administration as problems at Tesla began to mount. Even after stepping very far away from that role, Musk remains focused on a wide range of activities outside of Tesla, including starting a third political party and trying to fix problems at X, his social media platform. The leaves Tesla — the most valuable automaker on the planet, employing 125,000 worldwide — missing one thing every other major company has: a full-time boss focused on its future. Instead, the company has a chief executive who is so polarizing its costing the company sales and likely the ability to attract talent. While Tesla's board and shareholders aren't likely to show him the door, they probably should. 'To have one of the biggest companies in the world, not have a full-time CEO is unheard of,' said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, an investment firm and one of the early investors in Tesla. Gerber, a previous fan of the company and Musk, thinks he has now become a problem for Tesla. 'The fact of the matter is that Tesla is a massive company that needs a lot of attention, and it just isn't getting it,' Gerber told CNN. Tesla faces a slew of problems, like plunging profits and the biggest drop in sales in the company's history, partly due to severe brand damage caused by Musk's political activities. Then there's regulatory credits, a huge source of revenue for Tesla, disappearing under the tax and spending bill just passed by Congress. The bill also took away a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers, which will further cut into demand. Meanwhile, Tesla's once-high-flying stock has lost more than a third of its value since hitting a record high last December. A company facing such serious problems needs a CEO who is laser-focused. The mounting problems even have some Tesla bulls believing there needs to be more constraints on Musk. 'We believe this is a tipping point in the Tesla story and ultimately the Tesla Board needs to act now and set the ground rules for Musk going forward around his political ambitions and actions,' Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note to clients this week. Ives said the board should impose rules for how much time Musk must spend at Tesla and introduce an oversight committee for his political activities. 'Tesla is heading into one of the most important stages of its growth cycle with the autonomous and robotics future now on the doorstep and cannot have Musk spending more and more time creating a political party which will require countless time, energy, and political capital,' Ives wrote. Tesla did not respond to CNN's request for comment on calls for Musk to spend more time at the company. However, Musk responded to Ives' suggestion by posting on X, 'Shut up, Dan.' But it's not just analysts calling for Musk to be required to show up at the job that made him the richest person on the planet. A number of Tesla shareholders, including some Democrats who oversee the investment of public sector pension fund money in Tesla stock, complained in May to Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm that Musk's other activities are hurting the company. 'Musk's outside endeavors appear to have diverted his time and attention from actively managing Tesla's operations, as any other chief executive officer of a publicly traded company would be expected to do,' said the letter. 'The current crisis at Tesla puts into sharp focus the long-term problems at the company stemming from the CEO's absence.' Even if Musk is forced to focus solely on Tesla, Gerber says Musk doesn't seem excited anymore about its core EV business, which continues to lose market share even as sales of electric vehicles increase around the globe. 'He doesn't want to be in the car business anymore,' said Gerber. 'He knows that everybody hates him. So, he thinks, 'Let's just focus on this robotaxi business and making robots, because if I put a big shiny object in front of people, they'll be distracted from the reality that Tesla has real problems and I don't have a solution for them.'' Tesla fans will argue that what matters now is the rollout of its robotaxi service, as well as developments in self-driving, robots and artificial intelligence. But there are serious questions as to whether Musk is the right person to oversee the challenging transition. For example, the robotaxi business finally debuted last month in Austin, Texas, but on a very limited basis and only for invited guests, not the general public. That is far behind the robotaxi efforts of Alphabet's Waymo, which is already providing more than 250,000 paid rides a week in Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Gerber said he still drives a Tesla himself and has made more than $100 million on investments in the company. But he says he's sold virtually all his Tesla shares and advised clients to do the same. Gerber said he's frustrated because, with the right leadership, the company could achieve all its goals. But Musk, he says, is not the right leader. 'I don't think he has any grasp or grip on reality and any way at this point, and it doesn't seem to be anybody there to shake him and be like, 'Dude, you know, you're not seeing the world like that everybody else right now,'' he said. But Gerber also doesn't see the Tesla board putting any limits on Musk, let alone replacing him. 'He's not going anywhere,' he said.
