Investor's Corner
Tesla and Panasonic expect profitability amid improving Model 3 production ramp
Tesla’s third quarter financial results were a pleasant surprise to Wall Street. In the days and weeks leading up to the company’s earlier-than-expected third-quarter earnings call, speculations were high that Tesla would either break-even, or post a very small profit. Neither happened, as the electric car maker posted $6.8 billion in revenue, beating earnings estimates with a GAAP profit of $312 million.
According to Elon Musk, that is just the beginning. During the third quarter earnings call, Elon Musk stated that he thinks Tesla could be cash-flow positive and profitable for all quarters moving forward. In his recent appearance at the Recode Decode podcast, Musk reiterated this point once more.
“I said earlier this year, I think we will be cash-flow positive for all quarters going forward,” Musk said, adding that he does not think Tesla would need any more investment. When asked if he believes Tesla can push through just by selling electric cars and battery storage products, Musk answered in the affirmative.
Elon Musk’s affirmation of Tesla’s profitability in the coming quarters comes amidst the equally optimistic outlook of Panasonic Corp President Kazuhiro Tsuga. In a statement to Reuters, Tsuga noted that Gigafactory 1 is on the verge of finally yielding returns for the Japanese battery maker. While Panasonic is still losing money as it ramps its battery cell production capacity in the Nevada facility, Tsuga stated that profits are likely underway in the near future.
“We will be in a position to deliver profits at a very early stage. There is no doubt about it, once we complete the current build-up. Once things settle down, you can control profit on line-by-line basis. The first ten lines are pretty much already there,” he said.
Tsuga further remarked that Panasonic’s investment in Gigafactory 1 would likely exceed 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) once the expansion of its production lines is complete. For now, Tsuga noted that Panasonic has 11 battery cell production lines running in the Gigafactory, though two more are expected to go online by the end of the year. The Panasonic exec further pointed out that it has dispatched more than 300 people to the Nevada facility to ensure that it can keep up with Tesla’s demands.
Panasonic Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda is optimistic about the company’s performance in the coming quarters. In a statement to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday, Umeda remarked that Panasonic has managed to hit a threshold where it can produce batteries in the pace required by the American electric car maker.
“We are finally at a place where we can move in lock-step with Tesla and make as many batteries as they make cars. It’s a relief, because they went through hell this September. And so did we,” Tsuga said.
Elon Musk believes that Tesla’s Model 3 ramp has reached a stable point. Responding to a question about the vehicle in the recent Recode Decode podcast, Musk stated that Tesla is “over the hump” in terms of the electric sedan’s production. Musk further pointed out that Tesla could probably hit a production rate of 6,500 Model 3 per week at its current state, though the company’s employees would have to do a notable amount of overtime to achieve a target.
“For us, making 5,000 cars in a week for Model 3 is not a big deal. That’s just normal. Now we’re working on raising to 6,000 and then 7,000 Model 3s a week, while still keeping costs under control. We could probably do 6,000 or more, maybe 6,500 Model 3s a week right now, but it would have to stress people out and do tons of overtime,” he said.
With the announcement of the Mid Range Model 3 and the ongoing phase-out period for the $7,500 federal tax credit, Tesla seems poised to deliver yet another impressive quarter this Q4. Apart from Panasonic’s upgrades in Gigafactory 1 and the installation of new Grohmann machines, Tesla has also registered more than 61,000 new Model 3 VINs in October alone. That’s the equivalent of all Model 3 VINs that the company filed during the first 11 months of the electric car’s production.
Elon Musk
Tesla stock gets latest synopsis from Jim Cramer: ‘It’s actually a robotics company’
“Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session,” Cramer said.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest synopsis from Wall Street analyst Jim Cramer, who finally realized something that many fans of the company have known all along: it’s not a car company. Instead, it’s a robotics company.
In a recent note that was released after Tesla reported Earnings in late January, Cramer seemed to recognize that the underwhelming financials and overall performance of the automotive division were not representative of the current state of affairs.
Instead, we’re seeing a company transition itself away from its early identity, essentially evolving like a caterpillar into a butterfly.
The narrative of the Earnings Call was simple: We’re not a car company, at least not from a birds-eye view. We’re an AI and Robotics company, and we are transitioning to this quicker than most people realize.
Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it
Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call featured plenty of analysis from CEO Elon Musk and others, and some of the more minor details of the call were even indicative of a company that is moving toward AI instead of its cars. For example, the Model S and Model X will be no more after Q2, as Musk said that they serve relatively no purpose for the future.
Instead, Tesla is shifting its focus to the vehicles catered for autonomy and its Robotaxi and self-driving efforts.
Cramer recognizes this:
“…we got results from Tesla, which actually beat numbers, but nobody cares about the numbers here, as electric vehicles are the past. And according to CEO Elon Musk, the future of this company comes down to Cybercabs and humanoid robots. Stock fell more than 3% the next day. That may be because their capital expenditures budget was higher than expected, or maybe people wanted more details from the new businesses. At this point, I think Musk acolytes might be more excited about SpaceX, which is planning to come public later this year.”
He continued, highlighting the company’s true transition away from vehicles to its Cybercab, Optimus, and AI ambitions:
“I know it’s hard to believe how quickly this market can change its attitude. Last night, I heard a disastrous car company speak. Turns out it’s actually a robotics and Cybercab company, and I want to buy, buy, buy. Yes, Tesla’s the paper that turned into scissors in one session. I didn’t like it as a car company. Boy, I love it as a Cybercab and humanoid robot juggernaut. Call me a buyer and give me five robots while I’m at it.”
Cramer’s narrative seems to fit that of the most bullish Tesla investors. Anyone who is labeled a “permabull” has been echoing a similar sentiment over the past several years: Tesla is not a car company any longer.
Instead, the true focus is on the future and the potential that AI and Robotics bring to the company. It is truly difficult to put Tesla shares in the same group as companies like Ford, General Motors, and others.
Tesla shares are down less than half a percent at the time of publishing, trading at $423.69.
There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.
However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.
To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.
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Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:
“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”
Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”
It’s not impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026
Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.
Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.
Elon Musk
Tesla director pay lawsuit sees lawyer fees slashed by $100 million
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
The Delaware Supreme Court has cut more than $100 million from a legal fee award tied to a shareholder lawsuit challenging compensation paid to Tesla directors between 2017 and 2020.
The ruling leaves the case’s underlying settlement intact while significantly reducing what the plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive.
Delaware Supreme Court trims legal fees
As noted in a Bloomberg Law report, the case targeted pay granted to Tesla directors, including CEO Elon Musk, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Kimbal Musk, and Rupert Murdoch. The Delaware Chancery Court had awarded $176 million to the plaintiffs. Tesla’s board must also return stock options and forego years worth of pay.
As per Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. in an opinion for the Delaware Supreme Court’s full five-member panel, however, the decision of the Delaware Chancery Court to award $176 million to a pension fund’s law firm “erred by including in its financial benefit analysis the intrinsic value” of options being returned by Tesla’s board.
The justices then reduced the fee award from $176 million to $70.9 million. “As we measure it, $71 million reflects a reasonable fee for counsel’s efforts and does not result in a windfall,” Chief Justice Seitz wrote.
Other settlement terms still intact
The Supreme Court upheld the settlement itself, which requires Tesla’s board to return stock and options valued at up to $735 million and to forgo three years of additional compensation worth about $184 million.
Tesla argued during oral arguments that a fee award closer to $70 million would be appropriate. Interestingly enough, back in October, Justice Karen L. Valihura noted that the $176 award was $60 million more than the Delaware judiciary’s budget from the previous year. This was quite interesting as the case was “settled midstream.”
The lawsuit was brought by a pension fund on behalf of Tesla shareholders and focused exclusively on director pay during the 2017–2020 period. The case is separate from other high-profile compensation disputes involving Elon Musk.
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