David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE

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

More From David Whiston

The narrow-moat car dealership has a bold strategy for both new and used car sales, but shares are pricey today.

The company declares special dividend and expects pretax profit for 2017 to decline, as a strong core auto business will not offset negative variances from Ford Motor Credit.

Both GM and Ford reported a strong finish in 2016, and we remain optimistic about the demand environment this year.

Ford's November sales were led by F-Series pickups while GM enjoyed robust growth across brands.

The auto maker's management is doing the right thing by investing for a future focused on selling vehicles as well as selling miles, even if it means some losses for the next few years.

The dramatic acceleration of Tesla’s production plans will lead to a significant increase in our fair value estimate -- to the $300 to $330 range -- writes Morningstar’s Dave Whiston.

The firm's delivery guidance may continue to move the stock, but it is somewhat distracting from the real story.

The auto giant’s upbeat quarterly report shows that the firm is starting to take advantage of its scale, writes Morningstar’s Dave Whiston.

Even with our lower fair value estimate, the dividend payer looks attractive.

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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