BYD usurps Tesla as top EV maker by sales, Lululemon expands in Spain

Yahoo Finance Live looks at several of today's trending stocks, including Tesla's drop in delivery numbers and retailer Lululemon's expansion into Europe by opening stores in Spanish cities Madrid and Barcelona.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Well, Triple Play is on deck. Here's what Dave, Emily, and myself are watching. I'm kicking us off with BYD. Confusingly, though, the ticker symbol is BYDDY, so there you go. Now the Chinese automaker actually dethroned Tesla to become the world's top electric vehicle maker in terms of sales. Now shares currently just slightly in the red at the moment, but are up 17% year to date.

Now despite COVID-related shutdowns, BYD sales were up 300% from 2021. They sold 641,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, versus Tesla's 564,000. Now China does increasingly dominate the lithium battery supply chain. And it's also pushing for its citizens to lower their personal carbon emissions, so really putting that pressure there to take personal responsibility for sort of cars that they drive.

Now we are seeing that that did help BYD's rise. BYD also has much lower pricing than its global counterpart, a starting price of $15,000 after subsidies for its cheapest dolphin model. But of course, that race to the top does come with a cost. Razor thin margins, as input costs rise, along with the price of raw materials. And that does make this current momentum seem rather unsustainable.

And like Tesla, the company also had to raise prices recently. Now, while BYD enjoys strong support in the Chinese market, its appeal will be tested once it goes beyond China's borders. But of course, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is keen on BYD, with a nearly 8% stake in it.

DAVE BRIGGS: All right, well, let's stay right there in the auto sector and with that story because my play is Tesla. The EV maker reporting a drop in deliveries for the first time in two years. Tesla's 254,695 cars down about 18% from the first quarter. JP Morgan trimmed the price target by $10 to $3.85, saying shares could fall more than 40% on those weaker deliveries. The main issue here in the quarter were those Shanghai COVID lockdowns.

But CEO Elon Musk recently described the other factories, both Texas and Berlin, as, quote, "gigantic money furnaces." So it's not just an issue with Shanghai, where they are going through some mass testing at the moment. Shares relatively flat on the day, but did just rise now 2.3% up on the day. But overall, this has been a very tough year for Tesla shares, down 42% year to date.

On a personal note, very happy to see Elon Musk back on Twitter, guys, following that 10-day absence. Today, Elon actually tweeting about my favorite thing-- his love of socks, referring to himself as a veritable sock aficionado. I don't expect you to comment on the stocks unless you feel like it, Emily. Nice to have him back on Twitter, though.

EMILY MCCORMICK: Well, never a dull day, Dave, when we have Musk back on Twitter. But of course, you talk about Tesla and some of the challenges that this company has seen over the course of the year to date. Of course, the company has been contending with supply chain challenges, factory shutdowns over the course of the year. So of course, still a solid turnout when we take a look at those delivery numbers, when we take that in the context of some of those challenges that Tesla, as well as the broader auto sector, have been facing.

But switching gears here, my triple play is also on the international front, and it's Lululemon. Now, the company is expanding further internationally. The company now opening two new stores in Spain and a local e-commerce site for the country as well.

Now this is really just the latest in Lululemon's growth plan that has included opening two new stores in Spain, and again, that e-commerce site for the country and the latest move in Lulu's growth plan, which has really set the company sights on quadrupling its international revenue by year end 2026, compared to its 2021 levels. Now, this is also Lululemon's first new market in Europe since 2019. It also operates stores in France, Germany, Ireland's, the Netherlands, and some others.

But, guys, what I really think is interesting with this announcement is Lululemon is really making an investment in growth in Europe, in the strength of the European consumer at the time when we're talking about a potential recession. And we're seeing some potential special vulnerabilities in Europe, in particular, given Russia's war in Ukraine. So, clearly, this is a long-term bet by Lululemon. They're opening stores in two big cities in Spain, in Madrid and Barcelona. So I'm interested in seeing how this ultimately plays out. But what do you think, Rachelle?

RACHELLE AKUFFO: I mean, I will say, you have to really think about Lulus brand loyalty. I mean, this is a real community. I'm one of the few people-- I've never bought a single piece of it. I know Dave is a huge fan of Lululemon. I've never bought a piece. But I will say, people are very committed to Lulu.

So perhaps, even at a time when money is tight in Europe, especially as the recession, as you mentioned there, hitting particularly hard because of the fallout from the European-- the war between Russia and Ukraine, I do think Lulu actually has a chance if people are still-- they're still buying clothes. And, you know, I know most of you, we do like a lot of athleisure. So with that return to work, the athleisure hybrid, I think Lulu might be in a good position here.

DAVE BRIGGS: I'm shopping their sale right now. It's the "We Made Too Much" sale, very honest about it. One other thing that will be an interesting test for Lulu coming up is, they open up their second experiential store. It's going to be in Houston. They have one at Mall of America. It's not just, of course, shopping. It's working out. It's sweating. It's eating. It's everything all under one roof. Almost 20,000 square feet at the Mall of America. A similar store coming later this year in Houston. So that will be an interesting test as well. That's our Triple Play--