In an attempt to capitalize on heightened demand from investors as auto companies and cities prepare for a decarbonized transportation system, Arrival is combining with CIIG Merger Corp. in a deal valuing the London-based electric bus and van company at $5.4 billion. Arrival's President, Avinash Rugoobur, chats with Hope King about how the company plans to invest the proceeds from the deal, why microfactories are the key to efficiently ramping up production of electric vans and buses, competition with Rivian, and Tesla's move into bitcoin.
(First published Feb. 8, 2021)
Desktop Metal is bringing 3D metal printing innovation to a broad array of industries, including automotive, consumer products, industrial automation, medical devices, aerospace, and defense. The company's CEO and Co-Founder Ric Fulop joined Voices of Wall Street to discuss the massive opportunity in 3D printing, and why the pandemic accelerated their plans to go public by two years. Hosted by Dion Rabouin.
FuboTV sits at the intersection of three red-hot trends that investors are chomping at the bit to gain exposure to. Think Roku, YouTubeTV, and DraftKings all rolled up into one company. That’s the dream scenario for FuboTV CEO and Co-Founder David Gandler, who joined Voices of Wall Street for an interview to discuss the sports-first streaming service’s massive opportunity to capitalize on cord-cutters abandoning cable TV, advertisers shifting their budgets to connected TVs, and legalized sports betting gaining traction across the U.S.. Gandler also tells Host Dion Rabouin that exclusive rights to live sporting events is something that FuboTV should be exploring, and that nothing is off the table.
Blade, a helicopter taxi service that initially became popular for its private flights bringing wealthy clients in and out of the Hamptons, is coming to public markets via a reverse merger with Experience Investment Corp, a SPAC backed by travel and leisure private equity firm KSL Capital. Eric Affeldt, CEO and Chairman of Experience Investment Corp. joined to talk about why his SPAC chose Blade, the market opportunity for innovation in urban mobility, why Blade is better positioned than Uber to execute the helicopter taxi business, and the electrification of air travel. Interview hosted by Hope King.
Plug Power is the leading user of hydrogen fuel in the world and is leveraging the sustainable form of energy to power industrial electric vehicles such as forklifts for major retailers including Amazon and Walmart. The company’s CEO, Andy Marsh, joined Katherine Ross, Host of Voices of Wall Street, to discuss the role of hydrogen fuel in electric vehicles, expansion into on-road vehicles and air travel, hydrogen vs. electric batteries, and similarities between Plug Power’s business model with SpaceX and Tesla.
There’s a euphoric market for electric vehicles, and new companies with small track records and giant ambitions are testing the waters of the stock market to raise funds and capitalize on the excitement. One of the emerging EV companies on investors’ radars is Fisker, which is hoping to capture a significant share of the market with a business model far different from Tesla’s. Dion Rabouin spoke with Henrik Fisker, Founder and CEO of Fisker about how the company plans ramp up production at a faster rate than Tesla did, why it’s low pricing puts its Fisker Ocean SUV in a league of its own, and how a Biden presidency impacts the electrification of the automobile industry.
The glory days for the stay-at-home bundle of stocks may be coming to an end. With news that Pfizer’s early data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 90 percent effective, investors initially dumped popular trades such as Peloton, Roku, and Zoom. We spoke to Jason Helfstein, Research Analyst at Oppenheimer, about what to expect out of digital fitness and streaming in a post-vaccine environment.
This episode's Voice of Wall Street is Bill McMahon, Chief Investment Officer of Active Equity Strategies at Charles Schwab Investment Management. Bill tells us how he values equities during a time when many say traditional valuation methods are dead, the significance of the current earnings season, why he’s bullish on semiconductors, and why widespread adoption of an eventual COVID-19 vaccine could take longer than many investors are expecting.
Max Friedrich, Fintech Analyst at ARK Invest, about why he sees massive potential for the Cash App, how Square has been able to navigate the pandemic, and how bitcoin fits into the big picture.
Coolness isn't a metric you see show up in valuation models, but there's no denying it matters for the top line of many consumer-driven industries such as Retail and Restaurants. We spoke with Piper Sandler Senior Research Analyst Erinn Murphy about Nike's dominance among the Gen-Z demographic and Crocs' sudden resurgence. We also spoke with Piper Sandler's Head of Consumer Equity Research Nicole Miller Regan about the restaurant industry's K-shaped recovery, Dunkin' vs. Starbucks, and her top stock pick.
The financial system is bracing for the Presidential election and the policy changes that will follow. We spoke to Jaret Seiberg, financial services and housing policy analyst for Cowen Washington Research Group, about the markets’ muted reaction to President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, key policy initiatives that could result from a Biden or Trump victory, and how these changes could impact the wealth gap and financial inclusion. Seiberg also talked about Jerome Powell nearing the end of his term as Fed Chairman and speculated about who will take his place, even though Seiberg says Powell has been the MVP of the economy.
Physiological data monitoring is becoming attractive for tech and fitness companies wishing to appeal to athletes and health conscious consumers. Whoop offers a simple band that you wear on your wrist and that records data in three main categories: strain, recovery, and sleep. Whoop Founder and CTO John Capopdilupo joined to discuss the technology driving the $30 a monthly membership model, Amazon's entrance into health monitoring, contributions into COVID-19 research, and more.
Barstool Sports passed its first test with ease as thousands of gamblers downloaded the company's new sports betting app on opening week. The critical question is whether the company can convert downloads into deposits and bets, according to Shaun Kelley, Senior Research Analyst for Gaming and Lodging at Bank of America. He joined this episode to talk about his outlook for Penn National Gaming, DraftKings, and some of the casino players that are flying under the radar. Kelley explains why DraftKings' first-mover advantage is vulnerable, the sustainability and genius behind Barstool's media strategy, and the challenge of leveraging technology to encourage betting.
Hype is the backbone of social media. It's the content ingredient that catches the most eyeballs and creates value for advertisers spending money on platforms such as Facebook. The problem with the social media business model, however, is that hype sometimes feeds off of false, salacious, and anger-inducing material. That's according to Sinan Aral, the David Austin Professor of Management at MIT, who details the unintended consequences of social media in his new book "The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and Our Health–and How We Must Adapt." While social media was supposed to make us closer to each other, communicate more easily, and share things with people around the world, the spreading of fake news and the way bad actors have been able to use social networks to divide and oppress have tarnished the technology. Sinan Aral joins the podcast to explore the issues and how they can be fixed.
Retail investors are having a moment right now. The stock trading app Robinhood gets a lot of attention, but Robinhood isn’t the only app trying to disrupt the traditional retail brokerages like Charles Schwab and Fidelity. Public.com is a social investing app that’s working to create a community around investing. its sort of like Twitter or StockTwits meets Robinhood. Katie Perry, the Vice President of Marketing at Public.com, tells us all about it.
We also spoke to Eric Shoykhet, the Founder of Atom Finance, which is trying to make financial data more accessible to retail investors who can’t pay thousands of dollars a year for Capital IQ, Refinitiv Eikon, or FactSet.
Rare earths, despite the name, are, well, not so rare. They're extremely relevant these days because they’re a critical component of electronics and electrification. That means they are really important to things like smartphones, electric vehicles, drones, and military applications. China has come to dominate the rare earths supply chain, and the U.S. really wants to win it back. We spoke to Jim Litinsky, Chairman and CEO of MP Materials, about the company’s vision to make the U.S. a leader in the rare earths industry, and how a Trump re-election would affect the company compared to a Biden victory. Due to Trump’s America-first narrative, and Biden's push for a climate change plan, Jim sees it as a win-win scenario for MP Materials.
The Voice of Wall Street you’ll hear in this episode is Howard Lindzon. Howard has a knack for spotting trends and successful companies before they pop up on other people’s radars. He’s the co-founder of the popular social investing community StockTwits, which caught on early to investors’ desire to turn to social media to share stock trading ideas and stay on top of all the buzz in the stock market. He’s also a General Partner at Social Leverage, an early-stage seed investment fund. Listen here to learn about what he looks for in an investment, and why he thinks "Investing and America are stupid" right now.
Tesla is redefining what it means to be a car company. At the core of the bull-thesis is the idea that Tesla is more than an automaker. Gene Munster, Partner at Loup Ventures, a research and venture capital firm, tells us about the opportunity in energy storage and how Tesla’s innovation could make its way inside the home. Sam Korus, an analyst at ARK Invest, covers robotics, EVs, energy storage, alt energy, and space. He hits on Tesla’s ambitions with batteries, its plan for developing the “brain of autonomous vehicles,” and the possibility of electric flight.
Zoom's business is on fire. Revenue quadrupled in the latest quarter and the stock is up nearly 600% since the start of the year as the video conferencing company racks up new users in the "Remote Economy." But how long will this last? Will the Zoom party continue even after people start to go back to the office? We spoke to Scott Kessler, Global Sector Lead of Technology, Media, and Telecommunications for Third Bridge, a research firm for investors, about his outlook for Zoom.
