테슬라 쓸어담는 개미들. 주가 전망은?

개미들은 단 두 달 만에 136억 달러, 우리 돈으로 17조 6천억 원어치의 주식을 사들였습니다.


작년 한 해 동안 순매수 금액이 170억 달러 정도였다는 점을 고려하면 놀라운 속도입니다.


2월 마지막 주에 개인 투자자들은 하루 평균 4억 6,000만 달러의 Tesla 주식을 순매수한 반면, 세계 최대 상장지수펀드인 SPDR S&P500 ETF의 순매수액은 1억 5,000만 달러에 불과했습니다.


특히, 투자자의 날 발표가 있기 전 지난 3일 동안에는 하루에만 5억 달러 이상의 순매수가 발생했습니다.


같은 기간 동안 3위부터 5위까지인 인베스코 QQQ ETF, 애플, 아마존의 하루 평균 순매수액이 5천만 달러 미만인 것을 고려하면 개미들이 테슬라에 얼마나 많은 애정을 가지고 있는지 알 수 있습니다.


테슬라는 작년에 급락한 후 올해 반등했습니다.


다소 실망스러운 투자자의 날을 보낸 테슬라는 지난달 중국 판매가 30% 이상 증가했다는 소식과 함께 반등했으며, 올해 들어 지금까지 60% 상승했습니다.


하지만 여전히 2021년 11월에 기록한 사상 최고가의 절반에도 미치지 못하며, 투자자들은 여전히 상승 여력이 충분하다고 보고 하락장에서도 계속 매수하고 있습니다.


테슬라 주식은 여전히 동종 업계에 비해 매우 높은 가치를 인정받고 있습니다.


팩트셋에 따르면 현재 테슬라의 주가수익비율(PER)은 43배로, 시장 관련성이 가장 높은 S&P500의 17.5배, 제너럴 모터스와 포드의 각각 6.4배와 8배에 불과합니다.


테슬라의 주가수익비율(PER)이 43배로 다른 주식에 비해 매우 높지만 과거 200배 이상과는 거리가 멀다는 사실도 개미 투자자들의 매수를 부추기고 있습니다.


올해 6,000명의 신규 직원 채용하는 TSMC


대만의 TSMC는 반도체의 겨울에도 채용을 멈추지 않고 있습니다.


이 회사는 올해 6,000명 이상의 신규 직원을 채용할 계획입니다.


이 회사는 대만 전역에서 소프트웨어 관련 엔지니어를 모집한다고 발표했습니다.


이는 지난해 '반도체 한파'로 업계가 투자를 보류했던 것과는 완전히 대조적인 모습입니다.


인텔은 최대 25%까지 급여를 삭감하기로 결정했고, 미국 최대 메모리 칩 제조업체인 마이크론도 반도체 수요 부진이 지속됨에 따라 인력의 10%와 임원 급여의 최대 20%를 삭감하는 등 긴축 경영에 나서고 있습니다.


TSMC는 공격적인 투자를 계속하고 있습니다.


최근에는 10조원을 투자해 일본에 제2 반도체 공장을 건설하기로 결정했고, 이에 앞서 외국계 기업 사상 최대 규모인 400억 달러, 51조원을 투자해 미국에 반도체 공장을 건설하기로 했다.


특히 내년부터 가동에 들어가는 애리조나 공장은 '큰 손' 애플을 위한 플래그십 반도체를 만들어 시장 확대에 나설 방침이다.


뿐만 아니라 삼성전자가 세계 최초로 3나노미터 칩을 선보인 지 6개월 만에 이 칩도 양산에 들어가며 경쟁에 불을 지피고 있습니다.


미국 석유회사 배당금 166조 원


미국 석유 기업들의 배당금이 사상 최대 수준에 도달했습니다.


블룸버그에 따르면 미국 26개 석유 회사에 투자한 주주들은 지난해 1,280억 달러(약 166조 원)의 배당금을 받았습니다.


이는 러시아의 우크라이나 침공 이후 유가가 급등한 데 따른 것으로, 주주 수익을 강조하는 최근 월가의 분위기와도 일치합니다.


블룸버그에 따르면 미국 석유 회사들은 지난해 자본 계획보다 자사주 매입과 배당에 더 많은 비용을 지출했으며, 이는 10년 만에 처음 있는 일입니다.


이는 부분적으로는 투자자들이 최근 화석 연료 시대의 종말이 가까워졌다고 믿게 되었고, 석유 회사가 석유 추출을 위한 새로운 투자를 계획하기보다는 주주에게 돈을 돌려주는 데 집중하기를 원하기 때문입니다.


작년에 조 바이든 대통령은 유가를 진정시키기 위해 석유 업계에 생산량을 늘려달라고 호소했지만 업계는 그 요청을 받아들이지 않았습니다.


블룸버그는 "대형 석유 회사들에게 미국 정부의 직접적인 요청을 거부하는 것은 그 어느 때보다 수익성이 낮다"고 분석했습니다.


그 이유는 투자자들 사이에서 화석 연료 수요가 2030년경 정점을 찍은 후 감소하기 시작할 것이라는 우려가 커지고 있기 때문입니다. 화석 연료 수요가 10년 이내에 내리막길을 걷게 되면, 수십 년이 걸리는 석유 및 가스전 등의 계획은 수익성이 없어져 자산 가치가 급락하고 소위 '좌초 자산'이 될 수 있습니다.


폭스콘, 2월 매출 '급감'


애플의 최대 공급업체.


대만의 폭스콘이 매출이 크게 감소했다고 발표하면서 아이폰 수요 감소에 대한 우려가 커지고 있습니다.


2 월 한 달 동안 회사는 131 억 8 천만 달러의 매출을보고했습니다.


이는 전년 동기 대비 11.6% 감소한 수치이며, 전년 대비로는 40% 감소한 수치입니다.


애플은 구체적인 감소 이유를 밝히지 않았지만 "2월 스마트 기기 판매량이 감소했다"고 설명했습니다.



Ants around the world have been scooping up Tesla stock at a frightening rate this year.


In just two months, they've bought $13.6 billion, or $17.6 trillion worth of the company's stock.


Considering that net buying for all of last year hovered around $17 billion, that's an impressive pace.


In the last week of February, retail investors averaged $460 million in net purchases of Tesla per day, compared to just $150 million for the SPDR S&P500 ETF, the world's largest exchange traded fund.


Notably, the last three days leading up to the Investor Day announcement saw more than $500 million in net buying in one day alone.


Considering that the third through fifth-ranked Invesco QQQ ETF, Apple, and Amazon averaged less than $50 million per day over the same period, it shows just how much love the ants have for Tesla.


Tesla has rebounded this year after a sharp drop last year.


After a somewhat disappointing Investor Day, Tesla bounced back with news of a 30%+ jump in Chinese sales last month, and is up 60% so far this year.


But it's still less than half of the all-time high it hit in November 2021, and investors still see plenty of upside and continue to buy on the dips.


Tesla stock is still very highly valued compared to its peers.


According to Factset, Tesla's price-to-earnings ratio, or PER, is currently at 43x, compared to 17.5x for the S&P500, which is the most market-relevant group of companies, and just 6.4x and 8x for General Motors and Ford, respectively.


The fact that Tesla's PER is 43x, which is very high compared to other stocks, but a far cry from the 200+ times it once was, is also driving ant investors to buy.


TSMC to hire 6,000 new employees this year


Taiwan's TSMC is not letting the semiconductor winter stop it from hiring.


The company plans to hire more than 6,000 new employees this year.


The company announced that it is recruiting software-related engineers across Taiwan.


This is in stark contrast to last year's "semiconductor cold snap," where the industry has been holding back on investment.


Intel has decided to reduce salaries by up to 25 percent, and Micron, the largest U.S. memory chipmaker, is also hunkering down, cutting 10 percent of its workforce and up to 20 percent of its executives' salaries amid continued sluggish demand for semiconductors.


TSMC continues to invest aggressively.


Recently, it decided to build a second semiconductor factory in Japan by investing 10 trillion won, and before that, it decided to build a semiconductor factory in the United States by investing 40 billion dollars and 51 trillion won, which is the largest investment by a foreign company in history.


In particular, the Arizona plant, which will start operation next year, is committed to expanding the market by making flagship semiconductors for 'big hand' Apple.


Not only that, but just six months after Samsung Electronics introduced the world's first 3-nanometer chip, it too is entering mass production, fueling the competition.


166 trillion won in dividends from US oil companies


Dividends from US oil companies have reached record levels.


According to Bloomberg, shareholders invested in 26 US oil companies pocketed $128 billion, or a whopping 166 trillion won, in dividends last year.


This comes as oil prices have soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and coincides with a recent Wall Street mood emphasizing shareholder returns.


Bloomberg reports that U.S. oil companies spent more on share buybacks and dividends last year than they did on capital plans, the first time that's happened in a decade.


This is partly because investors have recently come to believe that the end of the fossil fuel era is near, and they want oil companies to focus on returning money to shareholders rather than planning new investments for extraction.


Last year, President Joe Biden appealed to the oil industry to increase production in order to calm oil prices, but the industry hasn't been receptive to the call.


As Bloomberg analyzed, "For big oil companies, rejecting a direct request from the U.S. government has never been more profitable."


The reasoning behind this is that there is a growing concern among investors that fossil fuel demand will peak around 2030 and then begin to decline. If fossil fuel demand goes downhill in less than a decade, plans such as oil and gas fields, which take decades to pay for themselves, may become unprofitable, causing asset values to plummet and become so-called "stranded assets".


Foxconn, February sales 'plummet'


Apple's largest supplier.


Taiwan's Foxconn has reported a significant drop in sales, raising concerns about declining demand for iPhones.


For the month of February, the company reported revenue of $13.18 billion.


That's down 11.6% from the same period a year ago, and down 40% year-over-year.


The company didn't provide a specific reason for the decline, but explained that "February sales of smart appliances, which include smartphones, declined due to an "influx of conservative customers.


Since Foxconn's Zhengzhou, China factory, the so-called "iPhone City," produces more than 80% of the iPhone 14 series and 85% of the iPhone 14 Pro, the company's flagship model, some analysts have suggested that Foxconn's sales decline is due to lower iPhone demand.


As a result of the shutdown of the Foxconn factory last year, Apple's revenue in the fourth quarter of last year fell 5% from a year earlier to $117.2 billion, the first time Apple's quarterly revenue has fallen since the first quarter of 2019, and the biggest drop in revenue since September 2016.


Meta offers 33% off next-gen VR headsets


Meta has slashed the price of its ambitious next-generation VR headset after just four months on the market.


The company has dropped the price of the MetaQuest Pro model to $999.99 from $1,499.99.


The entry-level MetaQuest 2 is also dropping $70 to $429.99.


The discounted prices will be available starting May 5 in North America and May 15 elsewhere.


Meta launched the ambitious MetaQuest Pro in October last year, but the market has consistently criticized it for being overpriced.


In the meantime, the company's flagship Metaverse business hasn't performed as well as expected.


The number of users of its virtual reality Horizon World, touted as a next-generation platform, was targeted at 500,000, but has since been reduced to about half that number. Moreover, the use of headsets, a must-have virtual reality device, has been steadily declining for the past three years, with more than half of owners stopping using them six months after purchase.


Market competition is no slouch either.


Samsung, which once had a 90% market share, dropped to 75% in the third quarter of last year.


With Apple set to release a VR headset sometime this year, and Samsung working with Qualcomm and Google on the next generation XR form factor, the industry is becoming increasingly competitive.


Meta, which slipped significantly last year, has decided that this year will be the year of efficiency and is reorganizing.


It will be interesting to see where CEO Zuckerberg, who insisted on staying outside the Metaverse despite the tides around him, will aim his sails this year.


Amazon 'Tightening the Belt'



Meanwhile, Amazon, which is tightening its belt due to poor performance, has decided to stop construction of its second headquarters.


The company has been working on projects called 'Met Park' and 'Pen Place' at National Landing near Arlington in northern Virginia, USA, and has decided to postpone the second phase, 'Pen Place', which was scheduled to begin construction in January.


The company hasn't said why it's delaying construction of the second headquarters.


Amazon has also decided to shut down eight of its unmanned convenience stores, Amazon Go, which it has operated in Seattle and New York, where it is headquartered.


The company appears to be accelerating the massive restructuring it has been undertaking recently.


Amazon's earnings have been slumping, with net income falling 9% year-over-year in the third quarter of last year, followed by a nearly 20% drop in the fourth quarter.


In response, the company has been tightening its belt, laying off 18,000 people in January, its largest round of layoffs in history, and restructuring unprofitable divisions.