Investor's Corner
Tesla Model 3 exceeds 30% profit, says Sandy Munro after teardown analysis
Teardown specialist Sandy Munro has completed his company’s analysis of the Model 3, and according to the Detroit veteran, Tesla’s compact electric car is solidly profitable. By studying the vehicle’s components, Munro estimates that Tesla would see more than 30% worth of profits from the Long Range RWD version of the vehicle.
Munro’s latest segment was uploaded on the Autoline Network YouTube channel. As noted by John McElroy, the YouTube channel’s host, Munro had a complete change of heart about the compact electric car. The Detroit veteran’s first impressions of the Model 3, after all, were predominantly negative, with Munro noting that the vehicle had build quality issues reminiscent of a 90’s Kia. Munro was so unimpressed with the Model 3’s build that he flat-out stated that the car was a “miserable job.”
In the latest Autoline Network segment, however, Munro admitted that the Model 3 is also set to deliver healthy a healthy profit margin for Tesla.
“The Model 3 is profitable. I didn’t think it was gonna happen this way, but the Model 3 is profitable. Over 30%. No electric car is getting 30% net, nobody,” Munro said.
Munro credits Tesla’s profit margins for the vehicle to the company’s in-house development. In one example, Munro noted that the rearview mirror of the Model 3 costs a mere $29.48, which is far less than the BMW i3’s $93.46 mirror. The Chevy Bolt EV’s rearview mirror was even more expensive at $164.83. According to Munro’s report, the i3 and the Bolt’s rearview mirrors were expensive due to their added functionalities — functionalities that are accomplished by the Model 3’s 15-inch touchscreen.
“That’s the magic of using components that are already on the car. You make them work double or triple duty,” Munro said.
Ultimately, Munro admitted that the final results of his company’s Model 3 analysis were not at all what he expected. Poking fun at his initial reaction, Munro stated “a lot of crow (was) being eaten around here,” citing a colloquial idiom that refers to a person’s admittance of error after taking a strong position.
Munro’s change of heart about the Model 3 started when he found things that he liked about the vehicle in late February. Among the Model 3’s strongest points, according to the auto veteran then, was its ride and drive, since the car handles well on the road. During this time, Munro noted that the Model 3 would fail his company’s build and quality test, but it would likely get decent marks on ride and drive.
Munro returned to talk about the Model 3 last April, where he stated that an analysis of the car’s electronics showed that Tesla is practically utilizing military-grade electronics on the vehicle. Munro also praised the Model 3’s battery pack, stating that it was the best that he had seen so far. Munro’s conclusion then was that everything from the Model 3’s suspension going down was perfect, but everything about the car’s bodywork was questionable.
Tesla eventually issued a statement about Munro’s initial findings, explaining that the Model 3 the teardown company acquired was an early build. During Tesla’s response, the electric car and energy company pledged to make the Model 3 even better over time, and to refine its manufacturing processes to the point were its bodywork becomes well within, or even beyond, industry standards.
Watch Sandy Munro’s conclusions about the Model 3 in the video below.
Elon Musk
Tesla locks in Elon Musk’s top problem solver as it enters its most ambitious era
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla has granted Senior Vice President of Automotive Tom Zhu more than 520,000 stock options, tying a significant portion of his compensation to the company’s long-term performance.
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla secures top talent
According to a Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tom Zhu received 520,021 stock options with an exercise price of $435.80 per share. Since the award will not fully vest until March 5, 2031, Zhu must remain at Tesla for more than five years to realize the award’s full benefit.
Considering that Tesla shares are currently trading at around the $445 to $450 per share level, Zhu will really only see gains in his equity award if Tesla’s stock price sees a notable rise over the years, as noted in a Sina Finance report.
Still, even at today’s prices, Zhu’s stock award is already worth over $230 million. If Tesla reaches the market cap targets set forth in Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award, Zhu would become a billionaire from this equity award alone.
Tesla’s problem solver
Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014 and initially led the company’s Supercharger rollout in China. Later that year, he assumed the leadership of Tesla’s China business, where he played a central role in Tesla’s localization efforts, including expanding retail and service networks, and later, overseeing the development of Gigafactory Shanghai.
Zhu’s efforts helped transform China into one of Tesla’s most important markets and production hubs. In 2023, Tesla promoted Zhu to Senior Vice President of Automotive, placing him among the company’s core global executives and expanding his influence beyond China. He has since garnered a reputation as the company’s problem solver, being tapped by Elon Musk to help ramp Giga Texas’s vehicle production.
With this in mind, Tesla’s recent filing seems to suggest that the company is locking in its top talent as it enters its newest, most ambitious era to date. As could be seen in the targets of Elon Musk’s 2025 pay package, Tesla is now aiming to be the world’s largest company by market cap, and it is aiming to achieve production levels that are unheard of. Zhu’s talents would definitely be of use in this stage of the company’s growth.
Tesla analyst Andrew Percoco of Morgan Stanley teased the company’s dominance in its self-driving initiative, stating that its lead over competitors is “not even close.”
Percoco recently overtook coverage of Tesla stock from Adam Jonas, who had covered the company at Morgan Stanley for years. Percoco is handling Tesla now that Jonas is covering embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
His first move after grabbing coverage was to adjust the price target from $410 to $425, as well as the rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco’s new note regarding Tesla highlights the company’s extensive lead in self-driving and autonomy projects, something that it has plenty of competition in, but has established its prowess over the past few years.
He writes:
“It’s not even close. Tesla continues to lead in autonomous driving, even as Nvidia rolls out new technology aimed at helping other automakers build driverless systems.”
Percoco’s main point regarding Tesla’s advantage is the company’s ability to collect large amounts of training data through its massive fleet, as millions of cars are driving throughout the world and gathering millions of miles of vehicle behavior on the road.
This is the main point that Percoco makes regarding Tesla’s lead in the entire autonomy sector: data is King, and Tesla has the most of it.
One big story that has hit the news over the past week is that of NVIDIA and its own self-driving suite, called Alpamayo. NVIDIA launched this open-source AI program last week, but it differs from Tesla’s in a significant fashion, especially from a hardware perspective, as it plans to use a combination of LiDAR, Radar, and Vision (Cameras) to operate.
Percoco said that NVIDIA’s announcement does not impact Morgan Stanley’s long-term opinions on Tesla and its strength or prowess in self-driving.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
And, for what it’s worth, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang even said some remarkable things about Tesla following the launch of Alpamayo:
“I think the Tesla stack is the most advanced autonomous vehicle stack in the world. I’m fairly certain they were already using end-to-end AI. Whether their AI did reasoning or not is somewhat secondary to that first part.”
Percoco reiterated both the $425 price target and the ‘Equal Weight’ rating on Tesla shares.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) just got a price target boost from its biggest bear, Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, who raised his expected trading level to one that is 95 percent lower than its current trading level.
Johnson pushed his Tesla price target from $19.05 to $25.28 on Wednesday, while maintaining the ‘Sell’ rating that has been present on the stock for a long time. GLJ has largely been recognized as the biggest skeptic of Elon Musk’s company, being particularly critical of the automotive side of things.
Tesla has routinely been called out by Johnson for negative delivery growth, what he calls “weakening demand,” and price cuts that have occurred in past years, all pointing to them as desperate measures to sell its cars.
Johnson has also said that Tesla is extremely overvalued and is too reliant on regulatory credits for profitability. Other analysts on the bullish side recognize Tesla as a company that is bigger than just its automotive side.
Many believe it is a leader in autonomous driving, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, who believes Tesla will have a widely successful 2026, especially if it can come through on its targets and schedules for Robotaxi and Cybercab.
Justifying the price target this week, Johnson said that the revised valuation is based on “reality rather than narrative.” Tesla has been noted by other analysts and financial experts as a stock that trades on narrative, something Johnson obviously disagrees with.
Dan Nathan, a notorious skeptic of the stock, turned bullish late last year, recognizing the company’s shares trade on “technicals and sentiment.” He said, “From a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”
Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost
Johnson has remained very consistent with this sentiment regarding Tesla and his beliefs regarding its true valuation, and has never shied away from putting his true thoughts out there.
Tesla shares closed at $431.40 today, about 95 percent above where Johnson’s new price target lies.
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