This past week NADA was taking place in San Francisco. In Spanish nada means nothing, but, let me tell you, this show is the opposite of that. There is a lot going happening at NADA, including over 15,000 attendees, hundreds of booths and more free pens than I can use in a year.
NADA has been something for quite a while, but the key themes of NADA have changed over the years. NADA, which stands for National Automobile Dealers Association, has a constituency that is concerned about the future. The automotive marketplace is changing rapidly, and dealers need to adapt to the times. This is also true for OEMs as their end market is about to enter a period of major flux.
Within the themes going on at NADA, Mobility-as-a-Service is drawing a lot of attention. Companies like Uber and Lyft didn't exist that long ago. They now command market caps on par with, or bigger than, most major car manufacturers.
I attended the event as a guest of HyreCar (HYRE:NASDAQ). HyreCar is, as described by its CEO Joe Furnari, the coolest new toy in the game room; in other words, HyreCar was being swamped by NADA attendees interested in what it's doing. Mobility-as-a-Service is HOT!
During my short time in the booth, besides Joe, I also had the pleasure to meet Brian Allan and Mike Furnari. My timing was slightly off. Had I been there an hour earlier I could have met executives from two different car manufacturers. These are some of the largest companies in the world, and teams of executives are stopping by HYRE's booth to meet the management and learn what HyreCar is doing differently.
Maybe they were also buying stock after shaking hands? HYRE was up 27% on Jan. 25. . .
Besides the OEMs dropping by, Furnari told me that they had been visited by over 200 dealers during the first two days of the show. As I said, dealers are worried about the future and HyreCar represents a possible solution for them. The interest level is high, to say the least.
Did I learn anything new? First off, it was nice to meet more of the team. They are a solid group. Then, over lunch, Joe and I discussed the future and I got more knowledgeable about HYRE's strategy and long-term vision. I also dug into the company's competitive position vis-a-vis other companies offering similar products and came away happy.
But, much more importantly, I left the show knowing that Mobility-as-a-Service is indeed going to be a massive opportunity. And, that HYRE has the opportunity to be a long-term player in this space. I'm not sure why the stock went up on Jan 25, but I do know this: if share price movement is reflective of underlying fundamentals, this move will likely continue for quite a while.
Daniel Carlson is the founder and managing member of Tailwinds Research Group and its parent company DFC Advisory Services, which is a licensed registered investment advisor (CRD # 297209). Tailwinds is a microcap focused research company that provides research on and consults to over 20 emerging growth companies in the technology and life sciences arenas. DFC Advisory Services is an RIA that manages money dedicated to investing in the companies covered by Tailwinds. For more information on these two companies and their track record, please see www.tailwindsresearch.com. Prior to founding these two entities, Dan spent many years working with small public companies, having been CFO of two public companies and helping finance many others. A 1989 graduate from Tufts University with a degree in Economics, Dan’s formative years in business were spent as an equity trader, first on the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange then on the buyside at several multi-billion dollar firms.
This article was submitted by Tailwinds Research. For more information on Tailwinds Research or on HyreCar, please visit www.tailwindsresearch.com.
Tailwinds is engaged by HyreCar and owns stock in the company. For a complete list of disclosures, please click here.
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