the biggest story at Tesla is the same as it was last quarter, last year, and in the years to come. The company is trying to shift into an AI and robotics company. While its revenue and profits are almost entirely from producing and selling cars right now, Elon Musk and the company have been very clear lately — if you don’t believe in Tesla’s AI and robotics work and plans, you shouldn’t be invested in Tesla. Again, this is what was emphasized in the annual Tesla shareholder meeting.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm noted that Tesla is unique in how large its retail shareholder base is. The fact is: institutional investors are less inclined to believe that something will happen that’s never happened before, that something will be created that hasn’t been created before. Retail shareholders are more inclined to believe in dreams. A decade ago, the dream was mass-produced, high-volume, affordable electric cars. Those who believed were rewarded when Tesla production and sales exploded. Those who didn’t believe and were ridiculed by critics for years got the last laugh. Today, the dream is something very different. Tesla sales have stagnated and even dropped after their long climb, but the focus is now on AI, true full self driving, and a new generation of robots that are more like humans and capable of doing a variety of tasks.
Musk is an entrepreneur that takes big risks gambling on ventures way out of the normal mainstream business operations. He is an outlier in that way. As is his personality that rub many, myself included, the wrong way. But he does accomplish much. Tesla EV & Space X are successful. Progress is being made in neutral link & FSD. I wonuldt bet on a Tesla collapse.
Did you verify it was not FUD? On Friday I listed to a podcast that explained how inventory in the car business works and why the reports were FUD, at least as far as Tesla was concerned.
I must admit that I have no way to personally verify the news one way or the other but my reason for ignoring them is that the Tesla story is much more than cars. If it were just cars I would not be an investor.
Switching to the broader landscape, there is a fantastic amount of negative reporting on Tesla and it’s hard to separate news from FUD but two votes tell the real story, news by people with money where their vote is, investors! Even more investors said that the dilution caused by Elon’s pay package of 2018 was worth it. Why would investors vote for something that reduces, dilutes, the value of their holdings? There was so much public news and noise about the pay package this time around that it is hard to believe that people were deceived. If it was a vote against bureaucratic overreach, that is a plus for humanity.
I agree that Musk gets lots of attention in the media not all of it favorable.
Parking lot full of unsold Teslas. I have one nearby in Chesterfield Mall in St Louis County. Mall is closed for renovation. One lot is filled with Teslas. Speculation is they arrive by train load from plant and this is distribution center for the area by truck. But clearly no waiting list for Teslas these days.
Saw recent news report of unsold Teslas in Australia.
Clearly growth rate is slowing and margins being squeezed.
Large firms have computer models of the company that estimates the fair value of the stock based on all available news. New information is entered promptly and share values react immediately. This is the main reason for price spikes on news (rather than orderly price trends as earnings accumulate).
Yes, markets are very sensitive to news. And plenty make money at it.
If investors were always right then AOL would be king of the world, Lucent will still be riding high, and Pets.com, Worldcom, and lots of other outfits would still be in business.
Stocks move on news, at least some of them do. Buffett trades on business fundamentals. Big difference.
Incresesed EV competion is good, price wars are good, and consumers preferences go up and down yearly. The competion and the oil companies are trying to make people believe that hybrids are better than EVs becuse they have a hard time competing with Tesla and use less gasoline. The oil companies hate EVs because they do not use gasoline like hybrids. So the anti-EV propaganda is paid for by the oil companies.
No one made me believe my hybrid is better than an EV. I believe a Hybrid may or may not be better than an EV depending on a person’s needs! Am I wrong?
Most people I know have no plans to buy an EV any time soon. They are more comfortable with hybrids. They have been out there for a while. Its not hard to find a friend who has experience with one. And most people are positive in their comments.
EVs seem to go to early adopters. The problems in winter, lack of charging stations, the need for home wiring, high insurance and repair cost are all concerns.
Hybrids seem to be the future for now. At least the next generation. Maybe in that time more infrastructure will be in place.
Tesla is still the leader in EVs and far ahead of many other players. But hybrids are likely to dominate for a while.
For many people hybrids are better, no “convincing” required. Out here in the sticks the charging is iffy. I have run into problems several times, my neighbor (with a Tesla) has had fewer incidents, but he has still had some. He and his wife took a cross country trip, and had few problems on the interstates, but when they went local they found themselves farther away from the supply than they were comfortable with. And one time they stayed at a motel with EV charging, except oops, it was a 1772 plug not Tesla. (He has since bought a converter.)
Not everybody wants to be “first on the block”, just as it took a long time to get computers into the house. (2000, about 20 years after the first PCs began arriving in numbers, if anyone is interested, is when penetration his 50%.)
One also needs to remember this is a very dynamic area. Someone might have a negative experience and tell the story for years without recognizing that a lot has changed since the time the story happened. Consider a 5 year old story about having trouble finding a charger.
For most people, a plug-in hybrid with a battery sized to provide about 40 miles of all-electric driving would allow them to do 95% of their driving without burning gasoline and eliminate “range anxiety”. And I’m sure that the small ICE and drive train would be cheaper than a battery 6 to 7 times the size to provide 250-300 miles of range.
The Chinese seem to understand this and are building lots of cheap plug-in hybrids.
As far as I am aware, every Tesla comes with a J1772 to NACS converter. Tell your neighbor to look inside the SUB-trunk, it should be inside a small packet, and inside a small plastic bag within the packet.
I haven’t opened my sub-trunk since the first week I had the car! My license plate holder, J1772 adapter, and mobile charging adapter (not included in all cars anymore) was in there.
In theory yes, but in practice, a huge number of PHEV owners never, or rarely, plug their car in. So they are still using gasoline all the time. But it’s still way better than a plain ICE because HEV are more efficient than ICE in almost all cases.
In California EVs don’t have winter problems nor lack charging stations. Insurance is higher because most EVs are of a higher class and quality than most Hybrids. Luxuary Hybrids have higher insurance costs than most Hybrids.
Hybrids are more complexx than EVs. Hybrids have a myriad of additional components. In addition to the internal combustion engine, electric motor and battery the systems surrounding them are far more complex, and therefore inevitably more difficult to repair.