David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE, is a senior equity analyst for Morningstar.

More From David Whiston

We see more reasons to oppose a battery electric vehicle spin-off than to support one.

We are increasing our fair value estimate to $731 from $239. If a recession can’t stop Tesla then virtually nothing will, and we expect the company to remain a leader in autonomous technology and range.

Sales will be horrendous in the near term, but there’s value to be found.

We don’t think Ford’s intrinsic value is well below $10 per share as the stock often trades, but we do think the stock will stay in that area for at least all of 2020.

Tesla’s fourth-quarter results showed a $105 million profit with GAAP diluted EPS of $0.56, and adjusted basic EPS of $2.14 easily beat the Refinitiv consensus of $1.72.

We are giving Tesla the benefit of the doubt and maintaining our fair value estimate.

Its autonomous vehicle plan has potential, but we're not changing our valuation yet.

More About David Whiston

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE, is a senior equity analyst, industrials, for Morningstar. He covers stocks in the automotive industry, including dealerships, parts manufacturers, and automakers. He has covered the automotive industry since joining Morningstar in 2007. He writes stock reports, ad hoc reports, and stock analyst notes and builds discounted cash flow models for each company covered. He also assesses their economic moat and makes frequent television and print media appearances in local, national, and international news outlets. Key stocks covered include GM, Ford, CarMax, and all six publicly traded franchise auto dealers, such as AutoNation and Penske Automotive Group.

In 2012, he ranked first in the specialty retailers and services industry in The Wall Street Journal’s annual “Best on the Street” analysts survey. He ranked first in the same industry in 2011.

Before joining Morningstar in 2007, Whiston spent four years in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ New York real estate audit practice and one year in its Chicago office working on real estate acquisition due diligence, gaining experience in assessing an asset’s cash flow.

Whiston holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business and a master’s degree in business administration with concentrations in finance, economics, and organizational behavior from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, and he is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

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