Latest news with #manufacturing
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
It's Bulletproof, Fire-Resistant and Stronger Than Steel. It's Superwood.
FREDERICK, Md.—Inside a cavernous warehouse, in the midst of a half-finished industrial park not far from a Civil War battleground, robot arms the size of Cadillac Escalades are rehearsing their moves for a tightly choreographed dance that will commence later this summer. A strange new substance will begin rolling off the assembly line: soft wood transformed at the molecular level into something stronger than steel yet one-sixth the weight.
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Why QuantumScape Stock Is Plummeting Today
On the heels of explosive gains this week, QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) stock is seeing a big sell-off on Friday. The company's share price was down 15.7% as of 3 p.m. ET. QuantumScape's valuation is falling today as investors move to take profits following big gains kicked off by the announcement of major manufacturing progress earlier this week. Even with today's pullback, the stock is up roughly 50% over the last week of trading as of this writing. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Investors pump the breaks on QuantumScape stock after a huge surge QuantumScape announced on Tuesday that it had made big progress with its manufacturing process. The company's Cobra separator process has now entered early production stages. The technology is designed to allow for faster and more energy-efficient production and is said to be roughly 25 times better when it comes to heat-treatment speed. The setup is also much smaller than previous technologies, and the smaller footprint should help the company improve its production capabilities. The Cobra news kicked off huge gains for the stock this week, but shares are taking a breather. Investors and analysts are seeing some valuation concerns following the recent rally and are selling shares to take profits. What's next for QuantumScape? Despite explosive gains this week, QuantumScape stock is still down roughly 95% from the lifetime high it hit after going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in November 2020. While the stock has posted an impressive rally this week thanks to news about its Cobra separator technology, long-term investors are likely still looking at a binary outcome. If the company's solid-state battery technologies deliver on their promise and wind up seeing meaningful adoption in the automotive market, the stock is poised to skyrocket. If the technology comes up short and fails to find a place in the market, shareholders will likely lose most of their investment. Should you invest $1,000 in QuantumScape right now? Before you buy stock in QuantumScape, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and QuantumScape wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $704,676!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $950,198!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to175%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025
The Sun
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Iconic British sportscar manufacturer ‘threatens to close UK factory and set up new plant in US' with 1,300 jobs at risk
AN iconic British sportscar manufacturer is threatening to close a UK factory and set up in the US. Lotus may be axing production at its headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk, and heading to the United States, as reported by the BBC. The firm has declined to make any official statement on potential plans. But, sources claimed moving production to the US was being discussed. 1 Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
CNN
6 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Why GE Appliances will make more washing machines in Kentucky instead of China. It's not what you think
Source: CNN Some of President Donald Trump's steepest tariffs are on products like washing machines, and on Thursday, GE Appliances said it would spend a half a billion dollars to make even more of them in the United States. Tariffs, however, weren't the driving factor behind the decision, the company's CEO says, but they did serve as an accelerant. GE Appliances announced it would spend $490 million to move some washing machine production from China and build a high-tech clothes care operation at its massive industrial park and headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, where it already churns out washers and dryers for the US market. The move of more than a dozen front-load washer models comes as US trade policy uncertainty has reached a high-stakes fever pitch as Trump's July 9 tariffs deadline approaches. GE Appliances move that is expected to be complete in 2027 and add 800 jobs, has been in the works for six years — shortly after a new line of front-load washers launched in 2019 — and follows a several-year stretch of high-dollar investments made to bolster the company's US manufacturing footprint, CEO Kevin Nolan told CNN. 'We've had a strategy that making appliances in America makes sense; it's an economic thing, and it's also how we can serve our customers in a better, more efficient way,' Nolan said, adding that GE appliances is 'not a company that was saying, 'Hey, we're going to outsource everything, and oh my God, now we've got to bring it back.'' '[The trade policy] makes the payback for these things much, much greater,' Nolan added. 'And with that, of course it's going to accelerate (plans), because the quicker we can do these things, the quicker we can realize those benefits.' The emergence and threat of tariffs also are influencing future decisions, Nolan said, noting that plans to reshore other components and parts are moving up the pecking order. Earlier this week, an expansion of Trump's 50% tariffs on steel extended to 'derivative products,' including consumer appliances such as dryers, washing machines, refrigerators, ovens and garbage disposals. The US currently has a minimum 30% tariff on Chinese exports; however, it has soared as high as 145% in recent months. 'The current trade policy is the most dynamic thing anyone's ever seen in their business career; I mean, it can change in a day, it can change in a week, it can change in a month,' Nolan said. 'These investments are strategic, and you've got to look at the long term and what makes sense. You can't do these just for trade policies.' The move follows similar reshoring efforts made by GE Appliances in recent years, Nolan said. The company, which has been a subsidiary of China-based Haier Group since 2016, has invested $3.5 billion in its US manufacturing facilities during the past decade, he said. Still, in recent months, the dramatic shifts in US trade policy and the Trump administration's tumultuous tariff rates have loomed large over manufacturers like GE Appliances and its parent company's appliance-making affiliate Haier Smart Home. Earlier this month, Haier Smart Home executives told investors that the company's localized supply chain in North America could help reduce its tariff exposure, according to translated company filings from June 4. Haier also flagged opportunities in 'tariff-driven competitor weakness,' according to the filing. In 2019, GE Appliances wanted to move quickly to market after developing what it believed was an innovation in the clothes care space: Making a less stinky front-load washer. 'To get this washer out fast, we said we're going to tackle building the dryer plant (in Louisville) to make those and we'll share the load and have the washer made in China,' he said. 'We always had a forward-looking view that this thing was going to come back to America, but to get the things in the market quick, we did it that way in China first.' The high-tariff environment 'definitely made the numbers on this look very good; so, we said, 'OK, let's pull this thing in; let's get this thing done now,' because it just makes sense. The engineering work's been going on; there's a reason we can move fast on this,' he said. 'But these tariffs could go away tomorrow, and once we make these decisions, we don't back off. So that's where you've got to make sure it's the right thing to do.' The half-a-billion-dollar investment announced Thursday will bring over more than 15 models of front-load washing machines, including a washer-dryer combo, to the 750-acre, multi-plant Appliance Park, where the company already manufactures top-load washers and clothes dryers. The latest addition — which is expected to heavily feature automation, including robotics, automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots — is expected to bring the company's clothes care production at the site to 33 football fields in size. Still, when it's complete in 2027, the new production lines are expected to result in the addition of 800 full-time jobs to the 8,000-person campus. 'It'll definitely be our flagship plant from a technology standpoint, so a lot of opportunities for upskilling employees,' Nolan said, referring to efforts for employees to learn new skills. 'In order to be able to successfully manufacture in the United States, we have to be efficient.' In recent years GE Appliances has touted a 'zero distance' strategy to be closer to customers from a physical and design standpoint. To that end, the company's 11 US plants include maker spaces and microfactories aimed at innovation and small-batch production. The approach is a far cry from that taken in the 1980s and 1990s, when then-General Electric CEO Jack Welch leaned heavily into outsourcing and offshoring. GE Appliances declined to share specifics as to what percentage of its manufacturing is now domestic versus overseas; however, the intent is to continue the reshoring efforts and expanding US manufacturing operations, Nolan said. Trump, like presidents Obama and Biden before (and after) him, has long stated a desire to revive the US manufacturing industry and sought to wield tariffs to make that happen. However, economists and supply chain efforts have questioned the effectiveness in broad-based tariffs to that approach. Several companies in recent months have announced plans to make investments in US manufacturing in recent months — with the White House taking credit — however, not only were these decisions already longer term in nature, any kind of large-scale rebound in domestic manufacturing will take time, said Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University. 'Right now, given all the profound uncertainty about tariffs, folks are not going to take action until some clarity emerges,' he said. Companies that are able to announce or make moves now, he added, likely have existing capacity currently in place. To build a factory from scratch not only would take many months, if not many years, and then companies would run up against another challenge: finding enough skilled workers, he said. About 22% of US plants have cited a lack of labor or labor skills as a key reason for their facilities running below full capacity, Miller said, citing his analysis of recent Census Bureau data. GE Appliances has a waitlist of folks for jobs at its plants, but there's still a huge need for a stronger pipeline of skilled workers, Nolan said. 'That's just a national shortage,' he said. 'When you look at us versus other countries, how many engineers are graduated, we're way underrepresented. And then when you look at out of those engineers who are skilled in the art of manufacturing, it's even worse. That's the thing as a nation we've got to really grapple with.' See Full Web Article
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Mohawk Industries Stock Underperforming the Nasdaq?
Mohawk Industries, Inc. (MHK) is the world's largest flooring manufacturer, headquartered in Calhoun, Georgia. Valued at a market cap of $6.5 billion, the company operates through three main segments, Global Ceramic, Flooring North America, and Flooring Rest of the World, producing a wide range of products including ceramic and porcelain tiles, natural stone countertops, carpet, vinyl, laminate, wood flooring, insulation, and panels Companies valued between $2 billion and $10 billion are generally classified as 'mid-cap stocks," and Mohawk Industries fits this criterion perfectly. Its competitive edge lies in its scale, geographic reach, diversified brand portfolio, and vertically integrated operations, all backed by consistent cash flow and a disciplined capital structure. Tesla's Robotaxis Reportedly Sped and Veered Into the Wrong Lanes. Does This Crush the Bull Case for TSLA Stock? Dear Micron Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 25 Warren Buffett Warns 'Thumbsucking' is 'the Cardinal Sin' in Business Because It's 'Delaying the Correction of Mistakes' Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! But it's not all sunshine and rainbows for the stock. MHK touched its 52-week high of $164.29 on Oct. 21 and is currently trading 37.5% below the peak. It has declined 11.6% in the past three months, underperforming the broader Nasdaq Composite's ($NASX) 9.3% rise over the same time frame. Mohawk Industries has declined 13.9% in 2025, trailing the Nasdaq's 3.4% gain. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is down 3.5%, significantly underperforming the Nasdaq's 12.7% increase during the same period. MHK has remained below its 200-day moving average since December and has also traded under its 50-day moving average since late January, both signaling a sustained downward trend. On May 28, Mohawk Industries' shares fell over 3% as homebuilding stocks and suppliers came under pressure from rising Treasury yields, which raised concerns about weakening housing demand. Its top rival, MasterBrand, Inc. (MBC), has lagged behind MHK, dropping 25.7% over the past 52 weeks and 25.4% on a YTD basis. The stock has a consensus rating of 'Moderate Buy' from the 15 analysts covering it, and its mean price target of $127.07 implies a premium of 23.8% from the prevailing price levels. On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
