A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 26 April 2024. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — RALLYING ON RESULTS
Wall Street snapped out of the previous week’s losing streak and went into a see-saw routine. Market indices rose and fell like the proverbial stripper’s knickers on a daily basis. But really solid Q1 results from some of the big-league US tech giants eventually set a positive tone. Blue-chip S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite stocks led the field, respectively closing on 2.7% and 4.2% weekly gains. S&P’s MidCap 400 climbed by 2.1%. Only the Dow Jones Industrial Average displayed signs of weakness, just 0.7% up.
Poor Q1 revelations spoilt the party for MidCap biker stocks, though. In particular, Harley-Davidson’s painful 22.7% plunge in quarterly net profit, allied to an extension of operating losses for its LiveWire electric motorcycle spin-off, was severely punished by investors. On the results announcement day, Harley’s share price dived by 15.8%, before recovering a tad as the weekend approached. Polaris and Textron weren’t exactly hailed for their health in performance terms either.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 34.75 | -8.7% | -20.6% |
| Polaris Industries | 83.81 | -4.1% | -16.3% |
| Textron | 86.51 | -7.3% | -9.8% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.92 | +10.8% | -3.2% |
| Niu Technologies | 2.26 | +17.7% | +34.5% |
| LiveWire | 6.80 | -5.9% | -6% |
EUROPE — MOOD IMPROVEMENT
German business confidence rose to its highest level in almost a year, boosted by hopes that lower inflation will lift consumer spending, according to a respected regular survey from the Ifo Institute. Other data showed that business activity in the eurozone had picked up by much more than expected during April, giving central bankers plenty of leeway to maintain their restrictive interest rate policies for longer.
While such good news was hardly reflected in biker-related eurozone automotive stock prices, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax Performance index put on 2.4% and the FTSE MIB in Milan added 1%. More cautious investors trading on Austria’s Weiner Börse lifted the ATX by a timid 0.3%. But KTM parent Pierer Mobility’s shares were still on the Naughty Step.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 106.40 | +0.5% | -0.5% |
| Volkswagen | 139.30 | -1.4% | -1.6% |
| Pierer Mobility | 37.20 | -8.4% | -21% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.72 | -2.9% | -7.2% |
JAPAN — CALM AND COLLECTED
Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda was completely relaxed about the yen’s value hitting a 34-year low. He opined that yen weakness was having “no major impact” on inflationary pressures. His team of BoJ policymakers had just voted unanimously to keep benchmark interest rates within a range of about zero to 0.1%. So no risk-taking there…
Japanese stock traders matched the BoJ’s lack of concern and the Nikkei 225 index covering Osaka and Tokyo exchanges finished the week with a 2.3% gain. Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki are now on the verge of publishing their full-year financial results. Yamaha will be a step ahead with Q1 figures.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1750.5 | +0.2% | -7.4% |
| Yamaha | 1406.5 | +1.9% | -1.2% |
| Suzuki | 1814.5 | +6% | +4.4% |
| Kawasaki | 4713 | -1.8% | -7.5% |
INDIA — BETTING RESUMES
With voting in the world’s largest general election now in full swing, and the result pretty much a foregone conclusion, Indian investors began to crawl back out of their rabbit holes. Stock market indices turned positive, the S&P BSE Sensex 30 and NSE Nifty 50 respectively adding 0.9% and 1.2%. Keen interest in motorcycle manufacturer shares was clearly evident once more.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4491.60 | +6.6% | -4.9% |
| Bajaj Auto | 8974.30 | +1.9% | -1.9% |
| TVS Motor | 2016.50 | +6.2% | -6.3% |
| Eicher Motors | 4601.00 | +5.9% | +14.5% |
| Mahindra | 2044.90 | -1.8% | +6.4% |
CHINA — CLUTCHING FOR STRAWS
President Xi Jinping has exhorted China’s financial regulator to launch measures to help Hong Kong’s ailing capital markets, more closely linking activities with equity exchanges on the Chinese mainland and enhancing status as “an international financial centre”. In response, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong outpaced mainland rivals, finishing 1.8% higher. Shanghai’s SSE Composite only managed a 0.8% gain and the blue-chip Shanghai-Shenzhen CSI put on 1.2%.
Not that they have much bearing on Beijing growth fantasies, seven of the ten listed Chinese motorcycle producers added value in the past week. None of them are listed on the Hong Kong exchange, of course, or are even quoted in HK dollar-denominated shares.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 15.70 | -0.6% | +13.6% |
| Zongshen | 12.54 | +21.7% | +54.4% |
| Sundiro | 3.11 | +5.8% | +2.3% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 12.41 | +10.2% | -0.9% |
| Lifan | 3.16 | +2.9% | -0.6% |
| Loncin | 6.60 | +2.5% | +5.4% |
| Linhai | 7.57 | +3% | -9.1% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 8.67 | -0.2% | -1.5% |
| CFMoto | 139.45 | +1.3% | +16.3% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 10.69 | -1.3% | -0.8% |