British Dealer News

Share prices

25/01/2021

A snapshot of bike and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 22 January 2021. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.

USA — BRIEF BIDEN BOUNCE

In a week initially foreshortened by Martin Luther King Day, US investors celebrated the eve of Joe Biden’s elevation to the presidency and the actual inauguration with vigour. This euphoric surge of confidence pushed New York market indices up to record highs by Wednesday night’s close. But then it petered out quickly, overwhelmed by rising concerns over economic and mortality impacts from the Covid pandemic. 

Prices flattened on Thursday and fell back on Friday. S&P’s blue-chip S&P 500 and MidCap 400 indices finished on respective 1.9% and 1.6% gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average made only a 0.6% advance. 

An underlying influence was the corporate full-year results reporting season getting into its stride. Among biker-related stocks, Polaris stood out with a big hike in value, just a few days before the company’s figures are due. Analysts were pointing to a big improvement for its ORV sales during Q4 of 2020. Harley-Davidson wasn’t given credit for similar prospects, though.               

HOGOMETER — FLIP AND FLOP

After steady progress for four of the previous five sessions, Harley-Davidson’s share price benefited from the Biden bounce on Tuesday, stacking on 3.5%. It then added a further 1.3% on Wednesday. But as the market mood levelled off on Thursday, Harley went into reverse faster, falling by 1.5%. That was compounded by a further 1.4% loss on Friday, ending just 73 cents higher week-on-week.      

Currency: dollar	Price	Week	Month
Harley-Davidson	41.35	+1.8%	+11.4%
Polaris Industries	118.73	+9.9%	+20.3%
Textron	49.73	+1.6%	+3.5%

EUROPE — MIXED MESSAGES 

Faltering economic activity data in Europe, attributed to much stricter Covid curbs, overwhelmed any sense of relief at Biden’s ascension to the White House. But smiles weren’t entirely wiped off German faces, thanks to rapidly recovering Far Eastern sales for Teutonic automotive brands.

Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax index returned to a small measure of positivity, 0.6% up. BMW and Volkswagen both shrugged off losses in the previous week with much bigger rises than the market average. But KTM parent Pierer Mobility inexplicably went the other way, its decline ending eleven weeks of uninterrupted share price growth. Profit-taking may have been the excuse.      

Currency: euro	Price	Week	Month
BMW	71.25	+3%	-3%
Volkswagen	179.40	+7.4%	+5.7%
Pierer Mobility	66.50	-2.2%	+3.9%

Further south, pessimism reigned. The Borsa Italiana’s MIB index in Milan fell for a second week, this time by 1.3%. However, Piaggio maintained its run of continuous accelerating growth throughout January, as investor anticipate blossoming year-end results. Conversely, electric superbike specialist Energica has been heading in the opposite direction for the entire month to date.            

Currency: euro	Price	Week	Month
Piaggio Group	3.00	+6%	+11.1%
Energica Motor	1.72	-2.8%	-6%

JAPAN — WATCHING AMERICA 

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index continued to climb for a fourth week, albeit by the smaller increment of just 0.4%. Generally, the US presidential election outcome is a confidence booster for the Japanese. But bonhomie doesn’t extend to all sectors of the country’s economy.                      

Among indigenous motorcycle manufacturers, Honda and Yamaha escaped from a previous week of across-the board sector negativity, the latter’s significant rise suggesting that its imminent 2020 full calendar year results may be better than analysts first suspected. The others are still tied to traditional fiscal periods and will be reporting Q3 numbers. Kawasaki copped a second week of retreat from its recently remarkable rally since announcing a major restructure at the beginning of November last year.            

Currency: yen	Price	Week	Month
Honda	2851.5	+0.6%	-2.8%
Yamaha	2177	+4%	+2.2%
Suzuki	5098	-0.7%	+4.9%
Kawasaki	2404	-4.5%	+11.6%

INDIA — BIKER BOOM?

Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 index made only another modest advance, this time of just 0.4%. But Indian motorcycle manufacturers remain a popular investment, as they reveal solid sales volume increases in the final quarter of last year. Bajaj, in particular, went ballistic on the basis of its export achievements. And Royal Enfield parent Eicher boasts the biggest monthly growth, presumably on the back of its new Meteor model roll-out. Mahindra’s abrupt retreat was prompted by news that production of some its two and three-wheeler brands, including the retro Jawa bike marque, had been disrupted by shortages of components.      

Currency: rupee	Price	Week	Month
Hero MotoCorp	3376.60	+5.4%	+9.9%
Bajaj Auto	4094.10	+14.4%	+21.3%
TVS Motor	522.30	+3%	+8.9%
Eicher Motors	2975.15	+4.1%	+22.1%
Mahindra	798.35	-2.6%	+12.3%

CHINA — BUSINESS AS USUAL

While the Chinese are now having to face the reality of no change in policy direction from the new US administration, so incipient trade warfare will carry on regardless, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index revived from negativity to post a 1.1% improvement over the past week.     

China’s ten listed motorcycling manufacturers also did better, a slim majority gaining ground, many by reasonable margins. E-biker CETC Energy, formerly known as Jialing Industrial, appears to be unstoppable.                     

Currency: yuan	Price	Week	Month
Qianjiang	27.64	+7.1%	-1.3%
Zongshen	7.17	+0.4%	-6.9%
Sundiro	2.51	-0.8%	+6.8%
CETC Energy	12.83	+16.1%	+33%
Lifan	5.38	+5.5%	+4.3%
Loncin	3.22	-2.4%	-6.9%
Linhai	5.75	+3.4%	-6.8%
Guangzhou Auto	12.04	-3.8%	-9.3%
CFMoto	188.80	+4%	+6.7%

 

Currency: HK dollar	Price	Week	Month
Jianshe	4.74	+3.5%	-2.3%