Toronto, Ontario — September 9, 2019 — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker: Toyota’s electric car sales ride high, and two ride-sharing giants see stocks dip shortly after going public.
Toyota’s Triumph
Canadians believe in Toyota—particularly in its electric vehicles, the company’s August sales records show.
The manufacturer sold more than 22,000 vehicles last month, up from under 20,500 vehicles in August of 2019.
While both the Lexus and Toyota lines saw sales increases, the luxury brand saw a comparatively small uptick — of just 2.6 percent — compared to the flagship brand, which sold close to 10.5 percent more units to Canadians.
The most striking aspect of Toyota’s success was seen in its electric vehicle sales — up nearly 60 percent from last year.
The most striking aspect of Toyota’s success was seen in its electric vehicle sales — up nearly 60 percent from last year.
By model line, the biggest increases were seen for Prius sales — which more than doubled its August 2018 sales in August 2019 — and for the RAV 4 hybrids, which saw an 80 percent increase in sales.
Toyota’s electric vehicles have also proved successful in a number of key markets around the world this summer — helping to push the generally stable stock up by 5.5 percent since early August.
Toyota’s electric vehicles have also proved successful in a number of key markets around the world this summer — helping to push the generally stable stock up by 5.5 percent since early August.
Uber Unter
Initial investors in Uber, which was listed on the NASDAQ in May, have lost close to 22 percent of the value of their initial investment. Now trading at under $32, the ride-sharing giant’s stock had sold at $41.57 when the bell rang on its first day as a publically traded company.
The company reached its value zenith in late June when it traded at around $46.38.
Lyftoff Failure
Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, has also seen its stock value plummet in the first few months of trading.
Beating Uber to the NASDAQ by two months, Lyft stocks initially traded at $78.29. Since March, however, the stock has seen 43 percent wiped off its trading value.
There may be two main reasons for the instability of both ride-sharing giants. For one thing, while both businesses have tremendous customer engagement around the world, neither business has yet to pull in a profit. While this may sound like bad news for the businesses, it is not unusual for businesses operating in terra incognita industries.
A second reason for the downward price trajectory following the ride-sharing businesses two IPOs may be that the initial buzz factor around the stock pushed the price upwards. Both Uber and Lyft’s IPOs were the subject of considerable media excitement — which may have encouraged less-informed investors to spend their money on the stocks.
