A snapshot of bike and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 24 February 2023. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — MEETING OF MINDS
After all the recent mincing around the issues of how long inflation and counter-inflationary measures are going to last, a consensus of US analyst and investor opinion seems to be finally accepting the assurances of Federal Reserve central bankers — that interest rates will definitely keep on rising and then stay higher for much longer than originally envisaged.
Wall Street market indices therefore declined at an accelerating pace, right across the board, as traders battened down the hatches. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average had respectively sunk by 2.7% and 3% at close of play on Friday. S&P’s MidCap 400 finished 2.5% down and the NASDAQ Composite incurred a 3.3% loss. Every US petrolhead or electrified biker stock fell in value, most to a noticably greater degree than the indices averages.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 46.78 | -3.5% | +3.6% |
| Polaris Industries | 114.01 | -4.4% | +6.4% |
| Textron | 73.56 | -1.6% | +1.8% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.13 | -18.7% | -38.1% |
| Niu Technologies | 4.36 | -6.8% | -24.2% |
| LiveWire | 7.27 | -4.2% | +19.2% |
EUROPE — REVISING THE RULES
The German federal statistics office downgraded GDP figures covering the final quarter of 2022 for the second time in a month, indicating that there had actually been a 0.4% shrinkage in Europe’s biggest economy versus Q3. This revelation inevitably cast doubts on Germany’s ability to escape recession and swiftly recover from its energy crisis.
Gloom promptly pervaded investment activity. Frankfurt’s Dax Performance index slumped by 1.8% and the Wiener Börse ATX in adjacent Austria finished 1.2% down. BMW and Volkswagen Group reflected market sentiment with losses. Pierer Mobility completely bucked the trend, its limited free float on home turf no doubt fired by sudden availability of a buy option.
Milan’s FTSE MIB also hit the buffers after a positive run lasting for several weeks, with 2% wiped off the index. But Italian PTW flag carrier Piaggio was unperturbed by this mood swing, adding further value just over a week before its 2022 full-year results are due.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 97.19 | -2.3% | +4.6% |
| Volkswagen | 162.65 | -2.4% | +1.7% |
| Pierer Mobility | 83.40 | +4.4% | +6.9% |
| Piaggio Group | 3.95 | +3.7% | +12.9% |
JAPAN — BANKING ON BAD NEWS
Hardening inflation data, against a background of uncertainty over monetary policy direction now the Bank of Japan has a new governor, tested Japanese investor nerves. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index closed negative for a second successive week, this time losing 0.3%.
Among indigenous motorcycle manufacturers, Honda stood out, extending its weekly and monthly share price gains in the wake of excellent Q3 results.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 3518 | +2.3% | +10.9% |
| Yamaha | 3405 | +0.6% | -7.4% |
| Suzuki | 4718 | -1.9% | -2.5% |
| Kawasaki | 2967 | -2.4% | +0.6% |
INDIA — DUCKING AND DIVING
While Hindu nationalist BJP leader and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi tried to divert attention from the gargantuan Adani Group investment scam perpetrated by one of his closest business chums, through launching investigatory raids on BBC broadcast facilities in India as part of a wider ploy to subvert media attention, Adani’s disruptive impact on equities trading surged again.
Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 share index fell by 2.5%, after a brief respite during the previous week. Four out of the five leading indigenous motorcycle producers suffered losses. TVS, incidentally run by another of Modi’s close commercial acolytes, effectively flatlined.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 2485.65 | -2% | -9.2% |
| Bajaj Auto | 3849.95 | -1.1% | -2.2% |
| TVS Motor | 1105.30 | +0.1% | +5.2% |
| Eicher Motors | 3205.60 | -2.4% | +1.1% |
| Mahindra | 1280.20 | -4.6% | -3% |
CHINA — SMALL BETS
After three weeks on the slide, Chinese investor sentiment and associated market indices perked up. Shanghai’s all-share SSE Composite rose by 1.3% and the blue-chip CSI 300 put on 0.7%. Quite why this occurred is difficult to ascertain, given there has been no meaningful change to relevant deleterious economic factors.
Among biker stocks, there were only three losers out of eleven listings. But price movements in either direction were notably mild, a pointer towards tentative trading.
China’s eleven listed motorcycle manufacturers took an almost unmitigated hammering, ten of them losers. The exception was CFMoto, which now figures as a joint-venture global manufacturing hub for expansionist European biker star Pierer Mobility.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 26.07 | -1.2% | +3.9% |
| Zongshen | 7.11 | +1% | +9.9% |
| Sundiro | 2.28 | -0.9% | -6.6% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 15.09 | +1.4% | +0.6% |
| Lifan | 4.22 | +0.7% | N/A |
| Loncin | 5.43 | +2.1% | +5.4% |
| Linhai | 9.63 | +2.7% | +6.6% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 11.52 | +1.3% | -0.1% |
| CFMoto | 141.79 | +2.3% | +19.7% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 20.10 | +4.7% | +3.1% |
| Currency:Â HK dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Jianshe | 4.83 | -1.8% | -4% |