Automobiles are again expected to dominate the annual CES technology gathering in Las Vegas that kicks off on Tuesday.
Electric- and driverless car technologies, together with infotainment innovations, will be a focus at the show, according to analysts. Other technologies likely to be in the spotlight include the latest offerings in artificial intelligence, virtual assistants, connected home products, OLED televisions and high-end personal computers.
Here’s a look at what Wall Street is looking for at this year’s CES.
Automotive
Auto technologies are expected to remain the key theme at CES as the presence of automakers and auto equipment suppliers has steadily increased over the past several years, MKM Partners analyst Ruben Roy said. Self-driving cars and related demonstrations are likely to remain at the forefront, but also expect a bigger turnout of electric vehicles as well as infotainment products.
Investors will likely stay focused on Nvidia Corp., Maxim Integrated Products Inc. and ON Semiconductor Corp. Greater visibility into products and strategies for Maxim and ON could be modest positive catalyst for shares; ON is expected to showcase its auto image sensing applications platform.
All major original equipment manufacturers are expected to showcase technologies along with a number of tier-1 suppliers, KeyBanc analysts said; many of these companies will make “meaningful” product, and maybe partnership, announcements.
Suppliers and OEMs that should benefit from the trend of rising capital commitments to technologies enabling autonomous driving, electrification and fuel efficiency include Autoliv Inc., Aptiv Plc, Ford Motor Co., Gentex Corp. and Magna International Inc. Stocks most likely to respond to CES-related events should be Ambarella Inc. and Nvidia, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Joseph Moore and Craig Hettenbach said. Ambarella should demonstrate its assisted car based on the company’s computer vision technology; it’s probably too early to hear about specific auto customer relationships, but that could occur as soon as Ambarella’s analyst day in March.
Nvidia is “at the center” of many of the key innovations in consumer electronics; expect the Jan. 7 keynote to demonstrate a broad range of growth drivers. Autonomous vehicle solutions likely to remain the focal point of the show, Goldman Sachs analysts said Key technologies to look for include developments in AI/software algorithms that could help drive “validation” and hardware addressing auto market hurdles like Lidar miniaturization and cost reduction or camera-only based vision systems; also, electric vehicle propulsion as OEMs evaluate electrified powertrains to support autonomous vehicles.
Artificial Intelligence