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Online used car sellers fall as Amazon expands into the market in deal with Hertz

Online used car sellers Carvana and CarMax are sinking on Wednesday, seemingly on the rule that when Amazon becomes interested in your industry, your future gets bleak.

On Wednesday, the tech giant partnered with Hertz to sell the rental company’s used vehicles on its Amazon Autos platform. The program is starting in four US cities, but the companies plan to expand it. Hertz shares spiked in premarket trading, but fellow online used car sellers like Carvana, CarMax, and rental agency Avis, which sells its cars itself after they’re done being rentals, all sank.

In its latest earnings report, Hertz said it had a fleet of more than 540,000 vehicles. Carvana sold more than 143,000 vehicles in its second quarter, and has a lofty goal to sell 3 million vehicles annually in 5 to 10 years. If Amazon continues to expand into the used car business, that may become even tougher.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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