In Whitney Tilson's TaaS teaser he talks about a handful of stocks that he thinks are the best plays out there... and if you're looking for more information on what these TaaS stocks are, then you are in the right place.
In this short review I'll be going over the big picture of this TaaS investment opportunity and will be taking a look at the individual stocks he's teasing.
There might be multiple variations of Tilson's presentation floating around online, but what I came across was titled "Have You Heard of 'TaaS'?"...
My answer was no... or at least not until he explained what he was talking about better.
TaaS, as he puts it, is the convergence of two new technologies and a new business model, and it stands for "Transportation as a Service". If you were to Google TaaS, you'd find information about "Testing as a Service", but Tilson is using this acronym with new meaning.
TaaS is going to be revolutionary we are told, and "will change everything", including altering the prices of everything, saving more than 1 million lives a year, and we are even told it will "put an extra roughly $5,600 back in the hands of 93% of U.S. families every year".
Sounds pretty amazing, but he goes on to tell us that many businesses will go bankrupt and a lot of people will lose money.
BUT, you "will make more money in the long-term by investing early in this trend than you will have made from any other investment". AND, it is "going to make some people a fortune over the next few years... and bankrupt others".
Sounds like a revolution.
Who Is Whitney Tilson?
Whitney Tilson is an investor, former hedge fund manager, author & newsletter publisher, and a philanthropist, being involved with a number of charities.
You know he's a big name when he even has his own wikipedia page.
He's met with President Clinton and President Obama, has been a contributor on CNBC, was on 60 Minutes two times, has been on Bloomberg TV, Fox Business, etc... and the list goes on.
Over the years he's also made some pretty-darn accurate predictions, such as when he was telling people to buy Netflix back in 2012 when everyone else was saying stay away... just as an example. So when he does go on to make predictions, people listen.
Empire Financial Research is a company Tilson founded to provide his investment newsletter services through, and he goes to great lengths to provide these services... meeting with CEO's and other company insiders, flying all over doing front-line research into companies before he invests, etc.
What The Heck Is TaaS? - Explained
The TaaS that Tilson talks about, as we already know, stands for Transportation as a Service, and this is the convergence of 2 technologies, the first being EV's, or electric vehicles...
Part 1: EV's are replacing gas powered vehicles
Most people agree with Tilson on this. EV's are likely to take over and make gas-powered vehicles obsolete, for the most part. Battery storage is improving dramatically and they will be as much as 90% cheaper to operate than gas powered cars.
Tilson says it's all about economics here, and the fact of the matter is that EV's will be much more economic. They already have engines that last longer, much less maintenance is needed, and they are much cheaper to operate... and things will only improve from here.
Not only that, but EV sales have been growing around 60% a year since 2014, China, India, Germany, the UK, France, Netherlands, and other nations are looking to ban gas vehicles in the near future, and the list of reasons why EV's will take over goes on and on.
So the first technology is the EV.
Part 2: AI Technology for Autonomous Vehicles
The second convergent technology is AI, and more specifically, AI's ability to run autonomous vehicles.
EV's couples with AI technology to make electric autonomous vehicles.
Tilson predicts that there will be fleets of these electric driverless vehicles all over, and you will be able to simply purchase TaaS subscriptions where you can get unlimited rides for a monthly price.
These two technologies combined are what make up TaaS.
And right now it seems Tilson will be right with his prediction. This technology is already being used in certain cities across the US, and the number is just growing and growing.
As he puts it, TaaS is "inevitable". It's coming, it's going to be huge, and the investment opportunity is also going to be huge... which is the whole point of his presentation.
Whitney Tilson's TaaS Stock Recommendations
Tilson suggests making 4 investments immediately (actually 5 stocks total... you'll see what I mean).
What are the stocks he recommends that are "going to make some people a fortune over the next few years"? Well, the first he gives us... it's Waymo...
- Investment #1: Buy Waymo - His first recommendation he gives us clear as day... saying to buy Waymo. Waymo is a company that is owned by Google and is a leader in the autonomous vehicle space. It originally was just a project of Google's, but became a stand-alone company in 2016. Investing in the Waymo would mean you'd have to invest in Google (GOOGL), but Tilson predicts that Waymo will eventually split from its parent company and when this happens those who get in before the split will have nice share positions. He recommends that you don't pay more than $1,600 per share (of GOOGL).
- Investment #2: Own The Most Important Technology In The Electric Car Space - This investment is for a company that makes components needed for EV's and is positioned well in the industry. That's just about all we are told here, so it's hard to make any prediction as to what it is. Tilson provides the details on it in his report, titled The #1 Way to Profit On The Electric Vehicle Boom...
- Investment #3: Own Two Key Technologies For Autonomous Vehicles - And then with his "investment #3" he teases two different companies responsible for the most critical components of self-driving cars... one company makes the "brain" of autonomous vehicles and the other provides the computing power to make the AI technology possible. These are laid out in yet another report, titled The Two Critical Driverless Technologies You Must Own Today...
Some people have been speculating that the first of these two companies may be Aptiv (APTV), and this is indeed a likely match. Aptiv has partnered with all the companies mentioned in the teaser, such as BMW, Hyundai, Audi, Intel and Lyft... and Aptiv makes an "Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform", which is a centralized platform that has actually been called the "brain" of these vehicles. There are hardly any clues given here, but this seems like a very likely pick that matches up well, and there aren't all that many likely matches here which makes the pick easier. Aptiv is only company that provides what it does, and because of this there are many proponents for investing in it, being well-positioned as it is.
Nvidia (NVDA) is a likely candidate for the second stock being teased under this investment #3. As we are told, the second company provides the computer processing power to make everything possible. This is what Nvidia does. They got their start making GPU's for avid gamers, but now are one of the leaders in the self-driving car space when it comes to these GPU's, which are just processors that need to be really fast for these cars to make split-second decisions. This company has been teased by The Motley Fool and a bunch of other advisories out there lately as well.
Investment #4: The Small Speculation - And the last investment he recommends, which is his "investment #4" but is really his 5th pick, is "a small company you've almost certainly never heard of". It's said that this company's materials are needed in all self-driving cars, and that its "revenue could quadruple over the next five years". The details are in his report The TaaS Speculation - How to Quadruple Your Money in the Next Few Years, and other than that there isn't much to say here. There's a good chance it's a chipmaker company, but I can't just go making too wild of guesses here.
So we know some of what he's teasing here. Waymo is a given, and both Aptiv and Nvidia are very likely two of his other picks, but that's still only 3 of the 5 that he teases... so how do you find out the others?
Well, any ideas and guesses are more than welcome (you can leave them in the comment section below), but you'll likely have to buy into the service he's pushing to find out more.
It's Going to Cost You: The Sales Pitch
The service being pushed through this presentation is Empire Stock Investor, in which viewers are offered a "trial subscription" for $49/yr - supposedly normally priced at $199/yr.
This also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is nice, and what it provides is monthly investment recommendations, analyses and more. It's a follow-along investment advisory service, in a nutshell.
Quick Recap & Conclusion
- Famous investor Whitney Tilson claims that investing in the right companies behind this TaaS revolution is "going to make some people a fortune over the next few years".
- TaaS stands for Transportation as a Service, and is the convergence of two technologies, electric vehicles + AI, which go together to make electric autonomous vehicles.
- This technology is already taking hold and growing in use - Tilson claims it's takeover is "inevitable".
- Tilson teases 5 different stocks to invest in: He tell us Waymo for his first pick, and then Aptiv and Nvidia are two other likely picks based on the clues he gives us.
- All of his stock picks are provided in reports he has created, but in order to get these reports you first have to buy into his Empire Stock Investor advisory service, which is discounted to only $49/yr.
And there you have it. I couldn't expose all the stocks he's teasing, but hopefully what I did provide you with did give some value.
As always, let us know what you think about these picks in the comment section below. We like to hear back from our readers!
The last two stocks have to be related to 5G companies and finally the upcoming battery technologies that promise incredibly long lasting batteries for the EV’s. Maxwell batteries comes to mind but Tesla just bought it. The research but Mr Goodenough is key to the entire thing find out who is backing him and you have the answer. without those batteries its all a pipe dream!
You told me nothing that wasn't in the teaser. In fact, you bolstered his position.
Hi David. Unfotunately some teasers leave us stumped and don’t provided enough clues for us to really dig in and figure out what’s being teased. This was one of them.
Is there a liability to you shelling out the $49 (other than losing the $49) and letting us know what the teased stocks are?
Hi Joyce, Or maybe you can waste $49 and come back and tell us!
My guess for a stock sector is battery storage. QS is head and shoulders better than Tesla's. They developed a Metallic Lithium battery with a charging range of 320 miles in twenty minutes, their battery packs are rated over 400 miles per charge. The new Hummers will use them.
NVDA has superior AI as well as fast chips.
Thanks for the article. z
I read NIO EV (China) has developed a new chip style battery. Don't recall much about article but will read it again after reading above article.
ty not an investor but this came up on an inaguration page. Guess his service is like actblue/actred, etc. They collect for anyone running for office. Firm out of Maine. Got pissed during this past election they work both side of street. Just take some of the money to make them millionaires. I started my Miltary career at 86.00 a month. Vietnam, honduras, Gulf War. Got out 30 yrs after make highest enlisted grade CMSGT. Have always paid my bills and tried to save. Guess keep what I got and give you a thank you for the advise. Have a blessed day. Got a get rich Brother -in-law Dennis who watches stock market all day and has broker on phone he keeps in his hand. Not my cup of tea. Again, thank you, God Bless stay healthy Corona is real.
So are you saying that "teasers" are "good hints", or are you saying they are empty promises?
They are almost always extremely over-hyped, but some of the stocks these guys tease turn out to do pretty well. You just can’t get caught up in the numbers they throw out there and have to realize it’s all part of a marketing ploy to bring in more subscribers.
Two years + later, I’d like to respond to each of your Guest commentators with one word: Nvidia
I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU R DOING AND WILL FULLY PERUSE YOUR INFO AS WELL AS GIVE U MY COMMENTS IF REQUESTED. WE HAVE SUBSCRIPTIONS W/5 DIFFERENT SERVICES BUT GET FEW CLEAR OR EASY 2 FIND RECOMENDATIONS. CONSTANT LEAD INS WITH MORE EXPENSIVE PLANS ARE RECEIVED EVERY WEEK. IT GETS TIRING.
THANKS AGAIN!
Yep, constantly patting themselves on their backs and telling you how rich they'll make you as long as you buy the next service… Irritating
"You told me nothing that wasn't in the teaser. In fact, you bolstered his position" as David Skinner points out. What is the "EXPOSED" part of your presentation? I'm interested in AI and yes do believe that they will be driving our electric cars, which is a good thing for all.
I'm also a kid who was brought up in S. CA and started to drive in 1960, legally floored it when entering empty freeways to merge with the flo at the highest speed my ride would take me, it was awesome! OK, so I'm 76 now and realize my driving days are less if I want to assure my safety and others so I'd be glad to turn over to the e-car and AI after approaching 90, but hey I'm no fool so whenever my ability starts to fade I'm giving up driving!
The idea about loosing my ability to drive scares me and the thought I could use a self-driving car is fantastic, I'm all for it!
Give us some reasons we should not trust Whitney Tilson's predictions and again the "Exposed " part of your title
Hi James. As stated in the article, Aptiv and Nvidia are likely two of his other picks. We couldn’t expose them all due to a lack of information, but exposing two more is better than nothing. Hope this helps.
James, Anders did the best he can. I'm watching the video now. The only stock Tilson names is Waymo – and that has already been purchased by Google so you can't actually buy it. Don't waste your time on these teasers. If Tilson is so successful why does he waste time recording this crap. You don't see Warren Buffett selling investment letters.
Hi there, Anders,
Once upon a time, not that long ago, I recently posted and said, quoted by another author, " That how these guru's make their fortune is by us, hopeful investors, buying into their services". And that my friends is how they become millionaires.
Keep up your incredible research, &, thank you.