Here Is Why Investors Are Talking Auto Stocks, Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) on Friday

Sales Surpass Expectations

Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are trending higher this morning as the company reported a major boost in June US sales of trucks and SUVs. The company’s total sales rose by 6.4% to 240,109 units. Truck sales were up by 24% to 96,354 units, with SUV sales up by 7% and cars down by 12%. “Strong customer demand has helped us continue growing our truck leadership position, further widening the gap with our nearest competitor versus last year,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford’s VP of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. Shares are currently trading at $12.87, up by 2.3% from yesterday’s closing price. At the end of the first quarter, 33 of the funds in our database were invested in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), down from 39 three months earlier.

Mixed Results From GM

Another US motoring giant is heading up this morning on sales data: General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) reported a 1.2% increase in US retail sales to 209,295 units sold to individual customers. Total sales, however, slumped by 1.6% to 255,210 vehicles. The main reason behind this development is that GM is cutting down on sales of rental cars, which are less profitable. “Our reduction in daily rental deliveries, disciplined incentive spending and well-managed inventories are showing real benefit in the residual values of our latest launched vehicles,” commented Kurt McNeil, U.S. VP of Sales Operations. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway is still holding on this investment in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), which amounts to exactly 50 million shares as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s latest 13F filing.

New Partnership

Shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ) are up by 2% this morning, after the company announced it had raised approximately $2 billion from the spinoff of its equipment rental business. The company said it plans to use the funds to repay some of its debt. Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ) has also announced the buyback of up to $395 million worth of its own shares. In other news, Hertz has teamed up with Uber and Lyft as it looks to ramp up the revenue from its older fleet. Uber and Lyft drivers will be able to rent 2-3 years old models for up to several weeks or even months. Rather than sell the cars it removes from the daily-rental rotation, Hertz has now decided to rent them out to hailing services, hoping it will prove to be a more profitable strategy. Corporate raider Carl Icahn is still betting big on Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ), as his fund, Icahn Capital LP, continues to hold 63.7 million shares as noted in its latest quarterly report.

Disclosure: none.