How XPeng and Newmont Avoided Friday's Stock Market Rout

Stock market investors remained unconvinced that the recent crisis in the regional banking industry has come to an end, and Friday's market action showed the extent of their nervousness. Many bank stocks fell anew on fears that action taken by the nation's biggest banks wouldn't address the core challenges facing the industry.

That sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.77%) and S&P 500 (^GSPC -1.11%) down more than 1%, although the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -1.49%) held up a bit better.

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

With generally downbeat sentiment among investors, it was nice to see some stocks manage to post gains. XPeng (XPEV -4.75%) rose after the Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) specialist released its latest financial report. Newmont (NEM -0.66%) also enjoyed gains as the gold miner saw favorable market conditions in the precious metals sector. Below, you'll learn more about what's affecting these two companies.

XPeng deals with sluggish conditions

Shares of XPeng finished the day up 6%, but the EV stock had a volatile ride. The stock had been up as much as 14% earlier Friday as investors digested the company's fourth-quarter financial report.

XPeng struggled amid a tough environment in China for EV sellers. Quarterly revenue fell 40% year over year, with vehicle deliveries falling by 47% to just over 22,200. Margin performance was weaker, and that led to significantly wider losses for the automaker than XPeng saw in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Things haven't seemed to get much better to start 2023, as deliveries in January and February added up to just 11,228. XPeng projected that it will finish the first quarter with deliveries between 18,000 and 19,000, down 45% to 48% from the first quarter of 2022. Revenue will likely be down 44% to 46% year over year as well.

Given all that, it was a bit surprising to see XPeng stock rise. Yet investors seemed to like the idea that the company would shift its focus away from its vehicles themselves, to focus more on the technologies that drive them. Combining that factor with cost-cutting measures and attempts to boost efficiency, XPeng seemed to capture what shareholders wanted to see in an admittedly tough market for Chinese EV manufacturers.

Image source: Getty Images.

Newmont looks golden

Elsewhere, shares of Newmont rose 5%. It was generally a good day for stocks of gold miners; the precious metal has gotten more favorable attention lately, as it's a traditional safe haven in times of financial distress.

Gold prices soared more than $70 per ounce on Friday, or almost 4%, on worries about the global banking system. That brought the price of the yellow metal to $1,994 per ounce, stopping just short of the psychologically critical (though fundamentally unmeaningful) $2,000 level. Some market commentators noted that with future action by the Federal Reserve now uncertain, the possibility that interest rates might fall sooner than expected makes gold look more attractive.

Investors can own physical gold directly, but owning shares of Newmont has some advantages. The stock has exposure to gold prices, but it also makes dividend payments based on industry conditions. With a current yield of 3.6%, Newmont looks attractive as an income-producing investment as well as a play on precious metals. In addition, Newmont has made efforts to grow its business, with a $17 billion buyout bid for Australian peer Newcrest being just its latest strategic move.

If gold keeps doing well, then Newmont is likely to participate in its gains. And with the stock notably lower from where it was this time in 2022, that strength could send Newmont's share price considerably higher.