Antonio Filosa stood in front of investors on Wednesday and reconfirmed Stellantis's 2026 guidance while the stock price cratered to a new low. Picture that scene. The CEO says everything is going according to plan. The market responds by selling harder. Someone is lying and it's definitely not the chart.
The turnaround plan continues, Filosa announced, as if repeating the words "turnaround plan" makes the turn actually happen. He's locked in for cash flow positive by 2027. That's the promise. The stock hit a new low the same day he made it. Investors heard the guidance and thought "let me get the f*ck out faster."
This is Stellantis. They make Jeeps and Rams and Fiats that break down in driveways across America. The company's strategy appears to be telling shareholders to wait three more years while the stock bleeds out daily. Bold move. Revolutionary even. No other failing automaker has tried simply asking for patience.
Retail traders are currently refreshing their brokerage apps wondering why their shares keep dropping after the CEO said good things. They read "reconfirms guidance" and think it means buy. They don't understand that reconfirming guidance while hitting new lows is like a pilot announcing the landing gear works as the plane nosedives into the Hudson.
The 2026 guidance stands firm. The stock does not. Cash flow positive by 2027 is the target. The question is whether anyone holding shares today will still be solvent by then. Filosa believes in the plan. The market believes in gravity. Only one of them has been proven correct so far.
Someone should tell Antonio that reconfirming your guidance doesn't matter if nobody believed it the first time.
Photo by Olena Bohovyk on Unsplash
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