Hertz Third-Quarter Sales Fall More Than Expected; Car Rental Firm Books $1 Billion Impairment Charge

The stock market and cryptocurrency sector have soared since Donald Trump won the 2024 election with major U.S. stock indexes hitting record highs.

While a Trump win could be good for many companies and the overall stock market, there could be plenty of losers including companies that have previously upset the former president.

What Happened: The Magnificent 7 stocks have been some of the best performers in recent years and remain among the most followed stocks in the U.S. and many parts of the world.

While a Trump win could be good for the seven large-cap stocks, there is the potential that some of the individual stocks could be hurt by the new administration. Benzinga recently took to the polls to find out where the consensus lies.

"Which Magnificent Seven stock do you think will be most negatively impacted by Trump's presidency," Benzinga asked.

Here are the results:

• Meta Platforms : 36%
• Tesla Inc : 16%
• Alphabet Inc : 13%
• Amazon.com Inc : 13%
• Apple Inc : 11%
• NVIDIA Corporation : 7%
• Microsoft Corporation : 4%

Meta Platforms won the poll as the company that could be most negatively impacted by the Trump victory in the 2024 election. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, could be fearing the worst after it previously banned Trump from the social media platforms for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has publicly attacked Meta many times and previously accused the company of spreading election misinformation.

Meta investors could also be scared that Trump threatened the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg with jail time if he won the 2024 election.

"They have no shame! All I can say is that if I'm elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time," Trump said in July.

Tesla ranking second in the poll could be a bit of a surprise given the electric vehicle company has soared in value after Trump's win. Tesla CEO Elon Musk endorsed Trump, campaigned for him and will likely have a role in the new White House administration.

Trump has been openly critical of the electric vehicle sector and will likely end federal credits for consumers who buy an electric vehicle. While this could be bad news for the sector, Tesla could be less impacted as it relies less on credits and is profitable unlike many of its electric vehicle competitors in the sector.

While some analysts think Trump's victory could help boost the chances that Tesla gets regulatory approval for autonomous vehicles to push its robotaxi vision forward, it's worth noting that Trump threatened to ban autonomous vehicles from roads.

Alphabet could be another stock to watch as vice-presidential-elect J.D. Vance previously said the tech giant should be broken up. While Trump hasn’t said the company should be broken up, he has been critical of the company in the past.

Did You Know?

• Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool

Why It's Important: From the time Trump won the 2016 presidential election through the 2020 election won by Joe Biden, the Magnificent 7 stocks were up an average of 380.2%. Compare that to a 213.6% gain for the seven stocks from the time Joe Biden won the 2020 election through the 2024 Election Day.

Nvidia was recently highlighted as one of the top-performing S&P 500 stocks in 2017, Trump's first year in the White House.

Here's a look at the previous gains of the Magnificent 7 stocks under Trump, taking the 2016 election day through the 2020 election day:

• Tesla: +987.3%
• Nvidia: +631.8%
• Apple: +297.8%
• Microsoft: +241.4%
• Meta Platforms: +113.6%
• Alphabet (GOOG): +102.7%
• Amazon: +38.8%

While the past results favor Tesla and Nvidia for gains under Trump, Benzinga readers are concerned about a potential negative impact on the electric vehicle company going forward.

Read Next:

• Ready To Retire On A Single Magnificent 7 Stock? Poll Reveals Top Pick —And It’s Not Apple

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. shares are trading lower Tuesday after the company reported third-quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations. Here’s what you need to know.

What To Know: Hertz Global posted a third-quarter loss of 68 cents per share, missing the consensus estimate for a loss of 50 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter fell 3.8% year-over-year to $2.6 billion, below analyst projections of $2.7 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

The company noted that its third-quarter results were impacted by a $1 billion non-cash asset impairment charge, mainly due to decreased fleet residual values as Hertz accelerated its fleet rotation initiative. The company’s rotation strategy led to a notable increase in vehicle depreciation expenses, which hit $937 million for the quarter, up substantially from the previous year.

CEO Gil West commented on Hertz's ongoing transformation, stating that the company is focused on its "back-to-basics strategy" aimed at sustainable, long-term shareholder returns. Hertz aims to complete its fleet rotation by the end of 2025, at which point it anticipates that depreciation per unit will normalize to under $300.

“Our team’s commitment to both our customers and our strategic objectives were evident throughout the summer. This dedication is reflective of our ongoing endeavors to improve operational performance and reposition the Company to achieve against its value proposition,” West said.

“There is still work to be done, but I am confident that the enhancements achieved over the course of this quarter demonstrate that we are on the right track.”

HTZ Price Action: Hertz Global shares were down 1.63% at $3.31 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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• NBA Legend Shaq Urged Jason Kelce Not To Make His Same Mistakes – ‘I Lost My Whole Family. I’m In A 100,000-Square-Foot House By Myself’

Image via Shutterstock.

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.