A snapshot of bike and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 20 May 2022. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — DARK MOOD INTENSIFIES
Wall Street had yet another rotten week, as uncurbed inflation, growing recession fears and panic measures by the US Federal Reserve, to tighten monetary policy and unwind stimulus packages, sucked out investor confidence.
Market indices continued to plunge. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively lost 3% and 2.9% by close of play. S&P’s MidCap 400 dropped by 1.9%. Worst news came from the S&P 500, which officially entered “bear market” territory, having fallen by more than 20% since the beginning of 2022 — also its worst performance since a similar steep decline sparked by the pandemic’s debut in early 2020.
HOGOMETER
Harley-Davidson shares kicked off the week with what looked like another volatile dose of stripper’s knickers syndrome. The price fell by 2.4% on Monday, before grabbing back 4.9% in value on Tuesday.
But then fertiliser really hit the fan on Wednesday. The company suddenly announced motorcycle assembly and shipment suspensions for at least a fortnight, owing to problems with an anonymous outsourced component common to its entire range excepting Livewire electric bikes. Canny commentators suggested defective EFI systems. This engendered a 6.9% plunge in the afternoon, down to $35.75.
Attrition accelerated on Thursday, as Harley shares dived by a further 9.3%. An additional minor slide of 0.3% on Friday dragged the price down to its lowest point for considerably more than a year.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 32.34 | -13.7% | -14.6% |
| Polaris Industries | 98.57 | -11.5% | -4.4% |
| Textron | 62.49 | -1.4% | -8% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.57 | -8.1% | -26.9% |
EUROPE — RUMOURS DAMPEN VOLATILITY
The possibility of earlier introduction of an inflation-busting eurozone base interest rate increase by the European Central Bank held off gloom for most of the week. So key market indices tended to flatline. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax lost a marginal 0.3% while the MIB in Milan added 0.2%. However, the benefit was decidedly mixed for motorcycle related stocks.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 77.45 | -0.3% | -1.4% |
| Volkswagen | 184.75 | -3.6% | -13.9% |
| Pierer Mobility | 74.00 | +1.6% | -9.6% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.38 | +1.3% | -4.4% |
JAPAN — PROFITS MEAN PRIZES
Japanese inflation has barely risen from a 2% target set by the Bank of Japan, which says it’s still more interested in stimulating the economy by boosting exports. Reacting to that reaffirmed direction, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 market index put on 1.2%.
Most motorcycle manufacturers weren’t invited along for the ride, though, following critical investor analysis of recently released corporate results. Honda and Suzuki were both punished for weaker profit performance by their car operations, rather than bikes. Yamaha got spanked for missing profit estimates on motorcycles, despite increased sales.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 3218 | -3.1% | -4.8% |
| Yamaha | 2522 | -9.9% | -8.2% |
| Suzuki | 3712 | -1.6% | -8.8% |
| Kawasaki | 2481 | +4.8% | +5% |
INDIA — BONUS BOUNCE BACK
Indian stocks see-sawed wildly for much of the week and then rallied strongly on Friday, led by both the automotive and metals sectors. This was reflected by a 2.9% weekly lift for Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 market index, with most of that growth attributable to the final session. All indigenous bike manufacturers were able to take advantage of this late surge in sentiment, to greater and lesser degrees. Royal Enfield parent Eicher staged the most impressive recovery.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 2590.15 | +5.8% | +12.9% |
| Bajaj Auto | 3787.80 | +4% | +4% |
| TVS Motor | 684.55 | +7.9% | +6% |
| Eicher Motors | 2707.80 | +11.3% | +2.9% |
| Mahindra | 903.80 | +1.6% | -1.8% |
CHINA — FIRMER RECOVERY
The Chinese government relaxed more and more Covid lockdowns in the economically vital Shanghai industrial area. And it also flagged up a significant cut in interest rates on state-backed commercial loans, to reduce financial pressure on exporting manufacturers.
Returning investor confidence pushed up Shanghai’s SSE Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 indices respectively by 2% and 2.2%, both rising for a second consecutive week. Among China’s eleven listed bike producers, only two failed to register gains.
In response Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and the blue-chip CSI 300 rose respectively by 2.8% and 2%. Eight of China’s eleven listed bike producers benefited from rising share prices.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 11.95 | +10.6% | +5.9% |
| Zongshen | 5.83 | +0.9% | +0.7% |
| Sundiro | 2.05 | +4.6% | -13.5% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 10.30 | +6.4% | -1.9% |
| Lifan | 4.50 | +7.1% | +13.1% |
| Loncin | 4.73 | +4% | +7.5% |
| Linhai | 8.20 | +10.5% | +2.6% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 13.38 | -1.4% | +15.2% |
| CFMoto | 122.38 | -1.3% | +25.2% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 14.22 | +5.8% | +16.3% |
| Currency: HK dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Jianshe | 4.73 | +6.3% | -7.4% |