Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Nissan, Mitsubishi To Form JV

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Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY), Mitsubishi (OTCPK:MSBHF) to form JV for robotaxi, EV battery services – report. (00:23) Stonepeak near deal to acquire Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) in $3.1B deal: report. (01:27) Palantir Q3 Earnings Preview: Can the software maker justify its valuation? (02:08)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Nissan Motor (OTCPK:NSANY) (OTCPK:NSANF) and Mitsubishi (OTCPK:MSBHF) will form a joint venture by the end of fiscal 2024 for services involving electric vehicles and self-driving cars, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun has reported.

The JV will aim to provide robotaxi services using Level 4 autonomous driving technology and at-home EV battery storage, among other services.

Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY) is currently developing the robotaxis, while Mitsubishi (OTCPK:MSBHF) is working to commercialize a system that uses artificial intelligence to figure out optimal routes.

The companies are targeting to launch the robotaxi services initially in Yokohama and Namie in Japan.

The JV will also work on providing a service that connects EVs to homes and power grids, which would allow people to use electricity stored in their cars at home or sell it to power companies. It will also explore the collection of used EV batteries for secondary use and recycling.

The venture will be funded equally by both companies, with verification tests expected to begin in 2025, according to the report.

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners is nearing a deal to acquire Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ:ATSG) in a $3.1B deal, Reuters reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the deal.

According to the report, Stonepeak would likely pay $22.50 per share for ATSG, a 30% premium from the company’s closing price on Friday, the sources said.

The deal would include debt, Reuters reported, citing the sources.

A deal could be announced as early as Monday, the sources reportedly said.

Neither Stonepeak nor ATSG immediately responded to requests for comment by Seeking Alpha.

ATSG is expected to report its Q3 earnings on Friday.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is set to release its Q3 earnings report after the market closes today, with expectations of 29% EPS growth and a 26% increase in revenue. On a YTD basis, shares of the Denver-based software company have climbed over 142%.

RBC Capital Markets continues to see Palantir’s (PLTR) valuation as “unsustainable” absent a substantial beat in Q3 and outlook raise.

However, Seeking Alpha contributor Michael Del Monte sees the company positioned for significant growth across its government and commercial customers, with contracts expanding and being extended with AIP.

Over the last 2 years, PLTR has beaten EPS estimates 75% of the time and has beaten revenue estimates 88% of the time.

More articles on Seeking Alpha:

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Earnings week ahead: O, PLTR, QCOM, SQ, AMC, PARA, LCID, RIVN, WBD, and more

Catalyst watch:

• Trump Media & Technology (DJT) dominates the list of options trading with high implied volatility.

• Short interest is elevated on Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and Hertz Global (HTZ).

• Some of the stocks expected to move based on the election results include Geo Group (GEO), CoreCivic (CXW), Rumble (RUM), and NextEra Energy (NEE).

• The analyst quiet periods expire on KinderCare Learning (KLC), Upstream Bio (UPB), Star Fashion Culture (STFS), SKK Holdings (SKK), and Sky Quarry (SKYQ) to free up analysts to publish ratings. The IPO lockup period expires on blocks of shares of ZEEKR Intelligent (ZK), which has the potential to put downward pressure on shares.

• VMWare (AVGO) will hold its VMWare Explore event in Barcelona. Broadcom (AVGO) acquired VMware last year.

• The two-day Gabelli Funds Automotive Symposium will include participation from AutoNation (AN), Autozone (AZO), Dana (DAN), Genuine Parts Company (GPC), Penske Automotive (PAG), and MP Material (MP).

Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is up 2.4% at $71/barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.5% at $68,000.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.6% and the DAX is flat. The market in Japan is closed today for a holiday.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) is up 25% on promising early results for its experimental obesity pill, VK2735, which showed increased weight loss at higher doses.

On today’s economic calendar:

Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.