Toyota Motor plans to increase its return on equity to compete globally, reports said Wednesday. Earlier this week, Honda Motor and Nissan confirmed they are in talks about a possible merger at time of auto industry upheaval. Toyota stock cleared a key level on Friday. Honda stock rallied further above a technical level. Nissan skid after a big move up this week.
All three Japanese automakers posted quarterly profit declines in November, due to challenges in important global markets, including the U.S., Japan and China.
Reported Toyota ROE Target
On Wednesday, an unnamed Toyota executive told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that the car giant aims to increase its return on equity (ROE) to 20%, up from market forecasts of 11% for the fiscal year ending in March. The executive suggested Toyota is trying to achieve this target to maintain global competitiveness, with the article suggesting the company is aiming to achieve this level by around 2030.
A Toyota spokesperson said the company "doesn't have an explicit target or deadline" for ROE. The profit metric is calculated by dividing net income by shareholder's equity.
Shares of Toyota Motor popped 1.2%, at 199.66, on Friday. Toyota stock regained the 200-day moving average for the first time since July, after retaking the 50-day line in recent sessions. It scored a 12.1% weekly gain after soaring in Thursday's stock market action.
The stock, which has dropped more than 20% from a March high, shows a lackluster IBD Relative Strength Rating of 45 and Composite Rating of 59, both out of a best-possible 99.
Honda Stock, Nissan Stock
Meanwhile, the possible merger of Honda and Nissan, Japan's second and third biggest carmakers, along with smaller Mitsubishi, would create the world's third largest automaker by annual sales, trailing only Japanese peer Toyota and German giant Volkswagen. Honda also said it plans to buy back up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion) of its shares by Dec. 23 next year.
Shares of Honda Motor gained 1.4% in Friday's stock market trading. Honda stock extended Thursday's rally above the 50-day moving average intraday, taking its weekly gain to more than 20%. The stock has dropped about 24% from a March high, and carries a Composite Rating of 41 out of 99.
Nissan stock tumbled 7.2% on Friday after gapping up 16.8% above the 200-day average on Thursday. Following the Honda merger report, Nissan stock shows a 37.5% gain for December. But it has declined roughly 23% from a March high.
Honda-Nissan Merger Talks
Embattled car giants Honda and Nissan hope to stave off falling sales and intensifying competition. Their joint statement on merger talks Monday alluded to "dramatic changes in the environment surrounding both companies and the automotive industry," a likely reference to these powerful forces gaining strength:
Electrification: Legacy auto giants are in the middle of a massive shift from gas and diesel cars to electric and hybrid vehicles in a bid to lower polluting emissions. Newer vehicles are also increasingly software defined. All this adds up to steep development costs. By merging, Honda and Nissan could jointly develop such vehicles and use common platforms to share and optimize costs. Cost saving is especially important for the companies right now. Both Honda and Nissan's sales are in a sharp two-year slump. Honda posted a steep quarterly profit drop in November, mainly due to a challenging Chinese market.
Competition: Chinese EV makers continue to rise in the domestic and overseas markets. China dominates global EV supply chains and subsidizes its EV industry, with its automakers churning out affordable electric cars. Affordable doesn't necessarily mean cheap. Chinese EV giant BYD and its startup peers, including Nio and XPeng, make technology-laden electric cars that are proving worthy rivals to Tesla cars. Korean EV makers like Hyundai and Kia are also on the rise. By comparison, Japan's auto giants are trying to catch up in fully battery electric vehicles, though they are leaders in hybrid cars. A merger could improve efficiencies in their EV investments.
Autonomy: Analysts at Morgan Stanley identified a third force forcing Honda and Nissan to consider a merger: the rise of semi autonomous and, eventually, fully autonomous vehicles. Tesla and some of its Chinese rivals are the clear leaders in vehicle autonomy, with Tesla optimistically promising to roll out autonomous vehicles that don't require human supervision next year. Maturing autonomous technologies have placed Nissan and Honda under new pressure to fund AI and software development, the Morgan Stanley analysts said in a Dec. 18 note. They noted Tesla's doubling to $1.5 trillion market capitalization in the span of six weeks, adding: "If the age of autonomy has truly arrived, then things will move very fast from here."
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