It was a tough day to be the top executive of a multi-national corporation with a market cap above $35 billion.

Chipmaker Intel announced today that CEO Pat Gelsinger is retiring after four years at the helm of the beleaguered tech company. Then again, “retiring” may not be the right word: Bloomberg first reported the Board effectively pushed out Gelsinger after a heated discussion about the firm’s future.

Shares jumped on the news of the departure, though they ended the day down 0.50%. CFO David Zinsner and Intel products CEO MJ Holthaus will be the interim co-CEOs.

What went wrong: Intel’s market share has deflated since Gelsinger was first appointed CEO in 2021. The company failed to gain an edge in the hyper-competitive AI market, and shares plummeted 61% during his tenure.

But are all of Intel’s woes Gelsinger’s fault? Not necessarily. Some of the firm’s biggest fumbles, including passing on an acquisition of Nvidia in 2005 and deciding not to make chips for Apple phones, were made before he became CEO.

How to fix it: According to Citi Research lead US semiconductor analyst Chris Danely, Intel’s foundry business (manufacturing chips for other companies that Intel itself didn’t design) is what’s holding it back, and a new CEO should exit it completely for there to be any chance of a comeback.

“We estimate if Intel exits the foundry business, the company could ultimately see EPS in the $3-$4 range and gross margins somewhere in the low-to-mid 50% range,” Danely wrote in a note today, reiterating his neutral rating and $25 price target.

Stellantis’ not-so-stellar quarter

Intel isn’t the only company losing its top exec after lagging behind while competitors ushered in a new golden age.

After taking the top job in 2021 following the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned suddenly over the weekend—also following disagreements with the firm’s board. A new interim executive committee will be led by Chairman John Elkann.

Shared dipped 6.47% today on the news, and the stock has fallen 46% in 2024.

The auto conglomerate, which operates brands like Chrysler and Jeep, reported decelerating revenue and a 20% decline in year over year car sales in its third quarter.

But investors aren’t betting that a new CEO behind the wheel will lead to a turnaround just yet. The sudden executive shakeup reads more like internal chaos than a decisive plan for the future, according to analysts.

“We struggle to identify any scenario under which these events can be positively spun as far as the stock price is concerned,” wrote Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska in a note.

The big picture: There’s plenty of blame to go around when a company is in a rut—but the CEO has the ultimate responsibility over its direction. The easiest way for a company to signal to investors it’s getting a fresh start is with a new top executive.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• Super Micro Computer has been declared innocent of financial wrongdoing by…Super Micro Computer. Shares popped 26.86% on news that the company’s internal investigation revealed nothing wrong with its finances.
• Gap continues its hot streak, rising 6.45% today thanks to an upgrade from JPMorgan analysts who think the retailer could gain another 20% from here.
• Dana isn’t just the name of your favorite dental hygiene technician—it’s also an auto parts manufacturer that received an upgrade from Barclays analysts today. Shares gained 13.30%.
• XPeng announced record car deliveries last month. Shares of the Chinese automaker jumped 5.31%.

What’s down

• Archer Aviation is a company that makes flying taxis. If that doesn’t sound like a good investment, a lot of investors would agree: Short interest is mounting, pushing shares down 23.72% today. Competitor Joby Aviation dropped 9.39% as well.
• Upstart Holdings sank 14.47% after the AI-powered lending company received a downgrade from JPMorgan analysts. LendingClub was downgraded as well, and fell 4.93%.
• Not all Chinese automakers had a great Monday: Li Auto fell 3.72% after announcing car deliveries dropped 5.25% month over month.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to spot the top of the market cycle. Sometimes, it’s easy.

Earlier today, Enron—yes, that Enron—posted a video on X filled with meaningless corporate jargon that amounted to an announcement: Enron is now a crypto company.

For those of you who were alive in 2001, Enron is synonymous with corporate fraud. For those of you born after 2001, a brief recap: Enron was an energy company that became one of the hottest stocks on the market in the late ‘90s, only for massive accounting fraud hiding billions in losses to send the company spiraling into bankruptcy.

Today, Enron announced it is relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” How that happens, exactly, is unclear—though apparently it involves crypto, considering the statement mentions “permissionless innovation” and “decentralized technology.”

Listen, you’re a smart reader and we don’t want to tell you what to do. But to be extraordinarily clear: Putting your money into a crypto investment run by a company responsible for one of the largest cases of fraud in American history is probably a bad idea.

Then again, considering the crypto hype that has been hitting markets lately, this will inevitably be one of the hottest investments of 2025.

Autonomous electric vehicles may not have a driver, but they’re still putting the pedal to the metal.

Ever since President-elect Donald Trump announced a friendlier regulatory environment for self-driving automobile companies, it feels like the good news for the industry has been revving up.

But it isn’t just the US that’s speeding ahead.

A series of Chinese IPOs are proving just how valuable robotaxis can really be. Chinese autonomous EV-maker Pony AI just went public last week, unveiling our new favorite ticker: PONY. The Toyota-backed carmaker raised $260 million by offering 20 million American depositary shares, giving it a market value of $4.2 billion.

It’s only the latest in a series of Chinese self-driving IPOS: Zeekr raised $441 million at a $5.5 billion valuation when it debuted on the NYSE in May, and Chinese robotaxi company WeRide went public on the Nasdaq in October and raised $440.5 million in its IPO.

Even though Chinese car companies could be hurt by Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy targeting the region, carmakers are still looking to go public while their growth is accelerating and US markets are booming.

But while self-driving hype is high, investors should note that this technology is still in its infancy. A better regulatory environment during a second Trump administration would be a much-needed boon for these companies: shares of Pony, Zeekr, and WeRide are all down since their debuts.

Tesla zooms ahead

It wouldn’t be an EV drag race without talking about Elon Musk’s Tesla, which has transformed from beleaguered automaker into a new analyst favorite.

Tesla shares rose over 3% today after the firm’s VP of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, posted on X on Saturday that Tesla’s most advanced Full Self-Driving software to date is rolling out en masse.

And that wasn’t the only good news: A number of analysts recently raised their price targets on Tesla, including Roth analyst Craig Irwin, who upped his price target from $85 to $380. Talk about a U-turn.

“Musk's significant influence in the Trump White House is already having a major influence and ultimately the golden path for Tesla around Cybercabs and autonomous is now within reach,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who maintained his $400 price target on the stock.

Now, we’ll really be impressed if “Full Self-Driving” actually means fully self driving this time.—LB

• Ever wonder how Huy Fong came to dominate the sriracha market?
• Here’s a fun fact: The fifth-largest craft brewer in the US is a cannabis company.
• Corporate America is preparing for a second Trump administration by making themselves look more conservative.
• High tariffs for goods from Mexico and Canada are a big deal for railroad companies that cross the continent.
• Disney shareholders should be happy about Moana 2’s record-breaking performance.
• Want to launder your drug money? Use Tether.

A big week of employment reports kicks off with job openings tomorrow morning. Job openings is more comprehensive than it sounds: It’s a report on job vacancies, hirings, and separations across the country. It’s also an important measure of the labor market, and last month’s report of 7.4 million openings marked a 3 1/2-year low, indicating an employment slowdown.

After the close

• Salesforce, the company that does everything from customer service to data analytics, added one more arrow to its quiver this quarter: AI. Dubbed Agentforce, this new AI offering has a lot of potential but still has a long way to go to prove it can be accretive to the bottom line. In the meantime, shareholders will want to hear the plan for fending off encroaching offerings from massive competitors like Microsoft. Consensus: $2.44 EPS, $9.34 billion in revenue.
• Okta, the company that never lets you log on to your work computer just when you really need to, should be thriving in a time when many employees are still working from home. Yet shares are down in 2024, with no one single factor to blame. The company is turning a profit, its balance sheet is rock solid, and constant spending on R&D keeps it ahead of the competition. Consensus: $0.58 EPS, $649.68 million in revenue.