Latest news with #RobertKubica
Miami Herald
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Ferrari Stock is as Pricey as Its Cars. Have Investors Lost Their Minds?
Close your eyes and pretend that I can give you any car you want. If I could just give you any car in the world, right now, what would you ask for? Was the first car to pop into your head something from Maranello? A Ferrari, perhaps? It probably was for many of you. After all, it's one of the most important and well-known luxury brands in the world. Sadly, while most of us can't afford to own a Ferrari, there is a piece of Ferrari that all of us can buy. And that's ownership in Ferrari itself. That's right, we can buy the stock! Ferrari has been a publicly traded company since late 2015. During that time, its shares have increased from a low of $29.27 to a recent high of more than $500. I'll admit to having watched the stock for years but have never pulled the trigger to buy it. I'd be driving a Ferrari if I had. The thing is, at $460, Ferrari stock trades like a luxury good, with a price-to-earnings multiple of more than 45! For the past 12 months, the company earned $8.81 a share. That means that when you buy a share of Ferrari today, you're paying more than 45 times one year's earnings for that share. To say it another way, if the company were to buy the shares back from you, it would take them 45 years to earn enough money to do so. You could buy other car companies for much less. Mercedes trades at just 5.5 times its prior 12-month earnings. GM trades at 7 times and Ford at just 8.35 times. Of course, those are relatively inexpensive compared with Tesla, whose shares trade for a whopping 174 times its trailing 12 months' earnings. Here's a table that I pulled from Schwab to showcase this difference: Compared with the other car companies, investors definitely see something in Ferrari. They love the stock! The Question of the Week, then, is why would investors want to buy Ferrari shares when it has such a high price-to-earnings ratio? Are Ferrari shares a luxury good? On June 15th, Ferrari won the most prestigious and challenging 24-hour endurance racing event: the 24 Hours of LeMans. That's a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, it's one of those great stories of triumph over adversity that we all love. Ferrari dominated sports car racing from its founding in 1947 through 1965. Led by Enzo Ferrari, the company won Le Mans six years in a row, from 1960 through 1965. Then Ford came on the scene. If you've seen Ford vs. Ferrari, you know that Ford won in 1966; in fact, Dearborn took home all the trophies through the 1960s. Then Porsche dominated. Since Ford knocked Ferrari off its endurance racing pedestal in 1966, the Maranello, Italy, company didn't win at Le Mans again until two years ago. And then it won again last year. And this year. They're back! Adding to the drama, one of the drivers, Robert Kubica, had been tapped to drive a Ferrari in F1 competition back in 2012, but suffered a devastating crash that derailed his career at the top level of motorsports. Kubica worked his way back, transitioning to endurance cars, which perform like F1 cars but are designed to race for up to 24 hours at a time. In 2024, Ferrari tapped Kubica to join its endurance racing team. His car failed to finish in that race but was victorious this past weekend. These two comeback stories not only showcase how hard it is to succeed in motorsports but also how sweet the victory is. So, is Ferrari's stock as sweet as Ferrari's motorsports victory at Le Mans this year? Here's the thing about Ferrari. It's not just a car company. It's a lifestyle brand. Sure, the core of its business is selling cars, but its cars are not transportation. So, Ferrari should not trade like a regular car company. You could say the same about Tesla, which trades on car sales but also on the reputation of CEO Elon Musk and assumptions about the electric-vehicle company's growth in AI and robotics. Surely, however, Ferrari should trade like a regular stock? The S&P 500 has a PE of approximately 28, which is relatively high historically. Even Alphabet has a PE below 20. And Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has a PE below 13! So why would Ferrari trade for such a high price relative to its earnings? Well, Ferrari has three qualities that separate it from the competition: a wide moat, strong margins, and leading growth. When Morningstar analysts evaluate a company, they look to see whether the company has a competitive advantage over its peers. They call this a moat, and companies like Ferrari are said to have wide moats because they have strong brand recognition, high pricing power, and strong customer loyalty. Racing is a part of that moat, and when Ferrari wins, its customer loyalty increases. In fact, racing is literally part of Ferrari's marketing plan. As the old saying goes, win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Ferrari, with its high pricing power and multiyear customer waiting lists, is able to charge premium prices for its products. The profit that the company makes on each car is higher than that of other car companies, including premium manufacturers like Porsche. Ferrari has shown consistently stable earnings growth of around 18% annually over the past five years, according to data shown on my Schwab research portal. Analysts expect that to continue for the next five years, too. Even Tesla isn't expected to grow that quickly. So here's the thing. Ferrari does deserve to trade with a much higher valuation than other car companies. Its wide moat means that other companies can't easily compete for Ferrari's customers, the company's customer loyalty means that Ferrari can charge a higher price for its cars and be more profitable, and those customers have money to spend and have enabled Ferrari to grow at a pace that's nearly as fast as its race cars. You can see this in the price/earnings growth multiple (aka PEG) in the table above. Ferrari trades with a PEG multiple of a little over 4. This multiple takes the PE and divides it by growth. By comparison, Tesla has a PEG of more than 7. Ferrari is a much better value than Tesla. I like this multiple because it tells a better story than just the PE. It allows growth companies to have a higher PE because they deserve it - well, they deserve it if they can continue to grow. Does this mean you should buy Ferrari shares? You'll have to do your own research. I said that the company deserves to trade at a higher valuation than other car companies, but it's still anything but cheap. This article was reprinted from a series on our sister publication, TheStreet, called Filthy Rich Animal. Filthy Rich Animal is a weekly newsletter that provides jargon-free insights to help new investors become... well, filthy rich animals! It's free to subscribe, and we hope you like it. If you'd like content sent directly to your email inbox, subscribe here. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CNN
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Once the victim of a life-threatening crash, Robert Kubica completes ‘highest goal' in endurance racing with Le Mans victory
Robert Kubica is a name which engenders strong emotion amongst all motorsport fans. Seen as one of car racing's most prodigious talents in the early 2000s, the Polish driver burst onto the Formula One circuit with BMW-Sauber in 2006. Having claimed a first career win in 2008 at the Canadian Grand Prix and signing a contract to join F1's most coveted team, Ferrari, Kubica's world was turned upside down in 2011 following a serious and near-fatal crash. Competing at the Ronde di Andora rally championship, the Pole was left trapped in his car for over an hour after colliding with a metal barrier at high speed. Suffering from significant blood loss, the then-26-year-old underwent a life-saving seven-hour operation in which he had a partial amputation of his forearm. Further operations followed, with Kubica also suffering severe injuries to his right elbow, shoulder and leg. Lucky to escape with his life, his motorsport career was seemingly over. However, this past weekend and more than 14 years later, Kubica completed what is perceived by many to be the greatest motorsport comeback of all time, winning the iconic 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race. In doing so, he became just the second driver this century to win both an F1 grand prix and Le Mans, joining Fernando Alonso. 'As an endurance racer, this is the highest goal you can achieve. It is the Olympic Games of motorsport, so I am honoured to have won such an event,' Kubica, who was driving for AF Corse alongside Great Britain's Phil Hanson and China's Yifei Ye, told CNN Sports. 'I was a bit surprised by all the attention I got after winning it. From fans, from media – I didn't know so many people had my phone number. 'Even people who aren't into racing text(ed) me, which shows the regard Le Mans is held in. I think we can compare it to the biggest events in sport, and certainly motorsport.' On social media, some fans have likened Kubica's ascent back to the top of racing to a Hollywood movie. 'This makes sense to me that people on the outside would think that,' he said. 'But what they don't see is all the difficult moments and tough times. 'After my accident, I had hard weeks, months, even years, where I struggled to adapt and come to terms with what had happened. Those were very difficult periods in my life and I'm fortunate to have been able to work my way through them.' Reflecting on those periods where he struggled to come to terms with losing out on his dream F1 move to Ferrari, Kubica believes that his strong will power guided him through. 'There were many moments where I could have cracked,' he said. 'But the key for me was that I always had a very strong character. Sometimes before the accident this was probably an obstacle in my life, but during those tough and difficult periods, it certainly helped me.' It is this attitude which Kubica feels helped him so much with his clearly successful transition into the world of endurance racing from F1. Having battled back following his initial rehab and working his way up through the racing circuit, Kubica ultimately managed to reclaim an F1 seat in 2019 for Williams Racing. After what he described himself as a 'tricky return, to put it kindly,' he felt he had other challenges in motorsport to conquer, therefore beginning his shift towards the endurance world. 'The strength of character certainly helped me when joining endurance racing', Kubica said. The 99-race veteran added that the requirement to compete as part of a team unit often proves too much of an obstacle for many F1 drivers looking to enter endurance racing. 'As drivers in F1 or F2 or even as early as karting as a kid, we are told that our biggest enemy is our teammate, that we need to beat them no matter what,' said Kubica. 'But racing in endurance, there is a need to work as a team and not be the star.' With races ranging from six to 24 hours long, Kubica has shared the driving responsibilities in AF Corse's Porsche Hypercar this season with Hanson and Ye. 'My teammates will probably tell you that I can be a little hard on them sometimes but that just comes from my will to win. We actually all get on really well,' he said. 'The biggest thing for me is that I already feel fulfilled as a driver. I have raced in F1 already and don't have that urge to act in my own self-interest to try and impress a manufacturer. 'It's not that I don't want to perform well, of course I'm doing everything I can to do that. But I don't have to do it at the cost of my teammates. 'For younger drivers, there is a risk that you lose focus of what is the most important thing. In endurance, that is to put your teammates in the best possible position, and sometimes you need to sacrifice yourself in order to do that.' On Thursday, Kubica returned to Poland to a hero's welcome. Already a national favourite for his exploits in F1, he cemented his legacy as one of the nation's sporting greats by becoming its first Le Mans champion. 'I had people coming up to me and telling me how they had no interest in racing at all but that they sat and watched the final moments of the race with family and friends,' Kubica explained. 'I even had one woman come up to me and tell me how she burst into tears as I crossed the finish line. It really seems to have been a moment which has gone far beyond sport for not only motorsport fans, but Polish people in general.' As for what comes next for the man once described by Lewis Hamilton as one of the top five drivers in the world, Kubica said that whatever the venture is, it will be fuelled by passion. 'This morning I woke up and I'm already thinking about what is next, about what is possible and what I'd like to do,' the 40-year-old said. 'What is possible? I don't know. But one thing that is for sure is that I will do whatever I would like to do, and not what pays me most money in my pocket or what will bring me the most fame.' He added: 'Knowing myself, the next thing will not be easy. It must be a challenge and an adventure for me. 'That might be trying to come back and win Le Mans again but we'll see. I just want to try and continue to chase my passion and enjoy everything that comes with that.' Many may expect a veteran racer such as Kubica to drive off into the sunset following such a momentous career crescendo. But for the Pole, as long as that passion for the sport is still burning, he will find it hard to walk away. 'My passion has brought me to where I am today. I don't know if I'd have made it back from the accident if it weren't for the drive it gives me,' Kubica said. 'It would have been easy to just say to myself, 'OK, I made it to F1 already so I won't risk driving again.' 'But in the end, my passion was too great to let that happen and even now, I can still feel it there at the same levels it was at when I first started karting as a small kid.' For the time being, before the ultimate decision on his racing future is made, Kubica still has half a season of the World Endurance Championship to complete. 'I always say we have no control over the future and can just influence what is happening now,' he said. 'So for the next few months, I am solely thinking about each race as it comes. 'Hopefully, one day, there will be a time where I can look back on all that I've done, and there will be a lot of emotions when I do. But for now, I am focusing on making more of these moments which can last forever'.
CNN
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
Once the victim of a life-threatening crash, Robert Kubica completes ‘highest goal' in endurance racing with Le Mans victory
Robert Kubica is a name which engenders strong emotion amongst all motorsport fans. Seen as one of car racing's most prodigious talents in the early 2000s, the Polish driver burst onto the Formula One circuit with BMW-Sauber in 2006. Having claimed a first career win in 2008 at the Canadian Grand Prix and signing a contract to join F1's most coveted team, Ferrari, Kubica's world was turned upside down in 2011 following a serious and near-fatal crash. Competing at the Ronde di Andora rally championship, the Pole was left trapped in his car for over an hour after colliding with a metal barrier at high speed. Suffering from significant blood loss, the then-26-year-old underwent a life-saving seven-hour operation in which he had a partial amputation of his forearm. Further operations followed, with Kubica also suffering severe injuries to his right elbow, shoulder and leg. Lucky to escape with his life, his motorsport career was seemingly over. However, this past weekend and more than 14 years later, Kubica completed what is perceived by many to be the greatest motorsport comeback of all time, winning the iconic 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race. In doing so, he became just the second driver this century to win both an F1 grand prix and Le Mans, joining Fernando Alonso. 'As an endurance racer, this is the highest goal you can achieve. It is the Olympic Games of motorsport, so I am honoured to have won such an event,' Kubica, who was driving for AF Corse alongside Great Britain's Phil Hanson and China's Yifei Ye, told CNN Sports. 'I was a bit surprised by all the attention I got after winning it. From fans, from media – I didn't know so many people had my phone number. 'Even people who aren't into racing text(ed) me, which shows the regard Le Mans is held in. I think we can compare it to the biggest events in sport, and certainly motorsport.' On social media, some fans have likened Kubica's ascent back to the top of racing to a Hollywood movie. 'This makes sense to me that people on the outside would think that,' he said. 'But what they don't see is all the difficult moments and tough times. 'After my accident, I had hard weeks, months, even years, where I struggled to adapt and come to terms with what had happened. Those were very difficult periods in my life and I'm fortunate to have been able to work my way through them.' Reflecting on those periods where he struggled to come to terms with losing out on his dream F1 move to Ferrari, Kubica believes that his strong will power guided him through. 'There were many moments where I could have cracked,' he said. 'But the key for me was that I always had a very strong character. Sometimes before the accident this was probably an obstacle in my life, but during those tough and difficult periods, it certainly helped me.' It is this attitude which Kubica feels helped him so much with his clearly successful transition into the world of endurance racing from F1. Having battled back following his initial rehab and working his way up through the racing circuit, Kubica ultimately managed to reclaim an F1 seat in 2019 for Williams Racing. After what he described himself as a 'tricky return, to put it kindly,' he felt he had other challenges in motorsport to conquer, therefore beginning his shift towards the endurance world. 'The strength of character certainly helped me when joining endurance racing', Kubica said. The 99-race veteran added that the requirement to compete as part of a team unit often proves too much of an obstacle for many F1 drivers looking to enter endurance racing. 'As drivers in F1 or F2 or even as early as karting as a kid, we are told that our biggest enemy is our teammate, that we need to beat them no matter what,' said Kubica. 'But racing in endurance, there is a need to work as a team and not be the star.' With races ranging from six to 24 hours long, Kubica has shared the driving responsibilities in AF Corse's Porsche Hypercar this season with Hanson and Ye. 'My teammates will probably tell you that I can be a little hard on them sometimes but that just comes from my will to win. We actually all get on really well,' he said. 'The biggest thing for me is that I already feel fulfilled as a driver. I have raced in F1 already and don't have that urge to act in my own self-interest to try and impress a manufacturer. 'It's not that I don't want to perform well, of course I'm doing everything I can to do that. But I don't have to do it at the cost of my teammates. 'For younger drivers, there is a risk that you lose focus of what is the most important thing. In endurance, that is to put your teammates in the best possible position, and sometimes you need to sacrifice yourself in order to do that.' On Thursday, Kubica returned to Poland to a hero's welcome. Already a national favourite for his exploits in F1, he cemented his legacy as one of the nation's sporting greats by becoming its first Le Mans champion. 'I had people coming up to me and telling me how they had no interest in racing at all but that they sat and watched the final moments of the race with family and friends,' Kubica explained. 'I even had one woman come up to me and tell me how she burst into tears as I crossed the finish line. It really seems to have been a moment which has gone far beyond sport for not only motorsport fans, but Polish people in general.' As for what comes next for the man once described by Lewis Hamilton as one of the top five drivers in the world, Kubica said that whatever the venture is, it will be fuelled by passion. 'This morning I woke up and I'm already thinking about what is next, about what is possible and what I'd like to do,' the 40-year-old said. 'What is possible? I don't know. But one thing that is for sure is that I will do whatever I would like to do, and not what pays me most money in my pocket or what will bring me the most fame.' He added: 'Knowing myself, the next thing will not be easy. It must be a challenge and an adventure for me. 'That might be trying to come back and win Le Mans again but we'll see. I just want to try and continue to chase my passion and enjoy everything that comes with that.' Many may expect a veteran racer such as Kubica to drive off into the sunset following such a momentous career crescendo. But for the Pole, as long as that passion for the sport is still burning, he will find it hard to walk away. 'My passion has brought me to where I am today. I don't know if I'd have made it back from the accident if it weren't for the drive it gives me,' Kubica said. 'It would have been easy to just say to myself, 'OK, I made it to F1 already so I won't risk driving again.' 'But in the end, my passion was too great to let that happen and even now, I can still feel it there at the same levels it was at when I first started karting as a small kid.' For the time being, before the ultimate decision on his racing future is made, Kubica still has half a season of the World Endurance Championship to complete. 'I always say we have no control over the future and can just influence what is happening now,' he said. 'So for the next few months, I am solely thinking about each race as it comes. 'Hopefully, one day, there will be a time where I can look back on all that I've done, and there will be a lot of emotions when I do. But for now, I am focusing on making more of these moments which can last forever'.
New Straits Times
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Kubica happy to silence doubters with Le Mans win
LE MANS (France): Robert Kubica said his triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday, 14 years after a near-fatal rally crash that partially severed his right forearm, should erase any doubts about his capacity to compete in motor racing. The 40-year-old former Formula One driver became the first Polish overall winner of the French endurance race in a car shared with Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson. "I don't think my limitations are limiting behind the wheel. I think if someone had doubts in the past I showed those doubts should not be in place," he told the BBC. Kubica, the first Polish Formula One driver, won the Canadian Grand Prix and finished fourth overall in 2008. He was linked with a move to Ferrari before the crash sidelined him for nearly a year. He returned to motor racing in 2012, focusing mostly on endurance races, before making a return to Formula One in 2019. "There was some very extreme quotes of some people which hurt me because I am the first one who would never like to be back just for marketing or a being a PR muppet," Kubica said.
TimesLIVE
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Robert Kubica happy to silence critics with Le Mans victory
Robert Kubica said his triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday, 14 years after a near-fatal rally crash that partially severed his right forearm, should erase doubts about his capacity to compete in motor racing. The 40-year-old former Formula One driver became the first Polish overall winner of the French endurance race in a car shared with Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson. "I don't think my limitations are limiting behind the wheel. I think if someone had doubts in the past I showed the doubts should not be in place," he told the BBC. Kubica, the first Polish Formula One driver, won the Canadian Grand Prix and finished fourth overall in 2008. He was linked with a move to Ferrari before the crash sidelined him for nearly a year. He returned to motor racing in 2012, focusing mostly on endurance races, before making a return to Formula One in 2019. "There were very extreme quotes from some people which hurt me because I am the first one who would never like to be back for marketing or a being a PR muppet," Kubica said. "People pointing the finger, saying maybe it wasn't safe, and having doubts. They are not doing it any more."
