Wall Street Lunch: Tesla Moves Bitcoins To Unknown Wallets

Summary:

• Tesla has moved nearly all its Bitcoin holdings to unknown wallets, sparking speculation about a potential sale of the cryptocurrency.
• The price of orange juice has surged 327% in three years due to diseased groves, severe weather, and a drought in Brazil.
• United Airlines announced a $1.5 billion share buyback program and expects an adjusted profit of $2.50 to $3.00 per share.

Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The EV maker has transferred almost all $760 million in bitcoin. (0:16) Clarence Beeks! OJ prices are soaring. (1:04) United Airlines brings back its buyback. (3:05)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Our top story so far. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has reportedly transferred almost all $760 million in bitcoin (BTC-USD) that it owns to unidentified wallets.

The move has given rise to speculations that the EV maker might be selling the cryptocurrency. Wallets that are associated with Tesla moved more than 11,500 BTC to other wallets, whose ownership is unknown, a CoinDesk report stated, citing data from Arkham Intelligence.

The Tesla wallets now only have about $6.65 worth of BTC (that’s right).

The carmaker is the fourth-largest holder of the cryptocurrency among publicly listed companies in the U.S., according to BitcoinTreasuries data. Earlier in March, a Morgan Stanley report suggested that since September last year, the historically positive correlation between Tesla’s share price and Bitcoin has broken down.

In today’s trading, “Sell 200 April at $142!”

No confirmed sighting of Clarence Beeks, but the holiday season is starting and orange juice prices are soaring.

Plagued by diseased groves, uprooted trees to make room for housing developments, and severe weather that has decimated crops, the price of orange juice has skyrocketed in the past 3 years by 327% and is expected to climb even higher in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which swept through Florida less than three weeks apart.

Hurricane Milton destroyed more than 3 million boxes of oranges in Florida, setting the state up for the smallest orange harvest in close to 100 years.

Coupled with a protracted drought in Brazil, the world’s largest orange exporter, the price for frozen concentrated orange juice trading on the Intercontinental Commodity Exchange has soared 80% to a record high of $5.25 per pound.

To address the higher price for oranges, Pepsi’s (PEP) Tropicana has reduced the size of a container of juice by 10% and increased the price by more than 30% from a year ago.

Among active stocks, Morgan Stanley (MS) rallied as Q3 earnings soared past consensus estimate as the markets and underwriting businesses drove a surge in investment banking revenue.

CEO Ted Pick said: “Institutional Securities saw momentum in the markets and underwriting businesses on solid client engagement. Total client assets have surpassed $7.5T across Wealth and Investment Management, supported by buoyant equity markets and net asset inflows.”

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) increased its full-year earnings guidance after topping quarterly forecasts, thanks mainly to the strength in its Pharma and MedTech segments.

While Abbott maintained its full-year 2024 organic sales growth guidance range of 9.5%–10.0%, the company increased the midpoint of earnings guidance, implying $4.64–$4.70 of adjusted diluted EPS in line.

Fueled by gains in Basic Economy and “unprofitable capacity exiting the market,” providing an inflection point in the company’s revenue, United Airlines (UAL) beat the consensus estimate from Wall Street.

Looking ahead, United expects an adjusted profit of $2.50 to $3.00 per share, versus the consensus estimate of $2.68 per share. The carrier also announced a $1.5 billion share buyback program, with $500 million to be purchased during the remainder of 2024. This is the first repurchase program undertaken by the company since the suspension of the previous program in 2020 due to COVID-19.

In other news of note, Amazon (AMZN) said it is investing in small nuclear reactors to power AI, coming just two days after a similar announcement by Google. Advanced nuclear tech companies NuScale Power (SMR), Oklo (OKLO), and Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) all rallied.

Amazon Web Services said it signed an agreement with Dominion Energy (D) to explore the development of a small module nuclear reactor near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station.

GameStop (GME) announced a major partnership to grade trading cards. The retailer said it will become an authorized Professional Sports Authenticator dealer, and PSA will provide authentication and grading services for trading cards through select GameStop stores across the United States.

As part of its trading card program, GameStop said customers can drop off ungraded trading cards at a participating. Customers can then follow their cards through the PSA process, where they are authenticated, graded and encapsulated.

And British American Tobacco (BTI) plans to launch a version of its Velo nicotine pouches using synthetic nicotine in the United States, according to a top executive.

The development is significant because British American Tobacco products usually contain naturally occurring nicotine derived from the tobacco plant. While marketed as a “tobacco-free” alternative, synthetic nicotine is considered to still carry some of the same addictive properties and potential health risks as its natural counterpart.

And in the Wall Street Research Corner, BofA is out with its latest Global Fund Manager Survey, taking the pulse of respondents with $574 billion in assets under management.

Strategist Michael Hartnett says money managers have slashed their portfolio allocations towards defensive sectors such as Consumer Staples (XLP) and Utilities (XLU) and have rotated exposure towards cyclicals like Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Industrials (XLI) and Energy (XLE).

“Allocation to staples fell at the fastest pace since ’05, while allocation to consumer discretionary saw the biggest monthly increase on record since ’05,” he said.

Geopolitics is now considered the biggest tail risk, with 33% of those surveyed naming it as No. 1. That concern supplants a U.S. recession, which dropped to No. 3 behind an acceleration in global inflation.

Long Magnificent 7 is still considered the most crowded trade, followed by long gold and long China equities.

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.

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