Nissan shares went up following news of CFO Stephen Ma stepping down from his position. The Japan-based company is going through a challenging time with unstable executive management. Stephen Ma will be the second member of the executives after COO Ashwani Gupta, who steps down from his position in the company, in such hard times.
This news may come as a shock to outsiders but it surely benefits the company as stock prices saw a rise of 1%. Although, the shares are still down by 35% compared to this time last year. It’s still not clear whether Ma will leave the company or be demoted to a different position.
Nissan’s CFO to resign amid challenging times
According to a person familiar with the issue, Stephen Ma will step down from the position of CFO, whether he will be demoted or not is not confirmed. If the news comes out to be true, CEO Makoto Uchida will be the only top-level executive in the company. However, Nissan hasn’t officially announced CFO Stephen Ma’s resignation or demotion.
In 1996, Stephen Ma joined the company in North America and worked in several financial positions in China and Japan. Later, he was promoted to CFO in 2019 alongside Gupta and Uchida. Jun Seki was also appointed as co-COO at that time, he resigned immediately after taking over the position.
Inside Makoto Uchida’s leadership
As per Bloomberg reports, Nissan’s stock has performed worst under the reign of CEO Makoto Uchida. The stocks have shown a dip of 47% since Uchida took charge as CEO in 2019, making him the worst-performing president of the company in the last five decades.
Uchida took charge as CEO when the company was facing several challenges, which made his reign tougher than others. In the MSCI World Automobiles Index, Nissan lagged by more than 170 points under Uchida’s leadership.
Nissan’s stock – Dive into its toughest performance in decades
In 2015, Nissan’s market capitalization peaked at almost ¥6 trillion, which has been shrinking for the last few years and now stands at about ¥1.5 trillion. Nissan now stands as Japan’s fifth-largest carmaker by market value after Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, and Subaru.
Last week, Moody’s and Fitch lowered their outlook for Nissan, following the unsatisfactory performance of a company in the US. Both the credit rating agencies believe that Nissan doesn’t have a bright future in the US market.
As Nissan navigates through a turbulent period with leadership changes and struggling stock performance, the company’s future remains uncertain. While the resignation of CFO Stephen Ma adds to the challenges, there is still hope that these shifts will eventually help stabilize the company. CEO Makoto Uchida’s leadership has faced tough circumstances, but his next steps, alongside the company’s efforts to regain market confidence, will be crucial in determining Nissan’s path forward in the coming years.
