Investor's Corner
Elon Musk’s bet-the-company Tesla Model 3 gamble appears to be paying off
Elon Musk recently described the Model 3 ramp as a “bet-the-company” situation, where the future of Tesla as a whole hinged on the success of the vehicle. Considering recent reports that are emerging about the electric car, it appears that while it might have taken longer than expected, Elon Musk’s Model 3 gamble is starting to pay off.
True to the CEO’s prediction, the 5,000/week milestone that the company achieved at the end of Q2 2018 seemed to have ushered in a new standard for the production of the electric car. Prior to the end of Q2, Tesla was still struggling to build the Model 3 according to its self-imposed targets. Despite doubts from Wall St. that the 5,000/week pace for the Model 3 was unsustainable, signs have emerged since the beginning of July suggesting that the production ramp of the vehicle this Q3 2018 would be better than what critics expect.
Tesla’s journey to reach this point, however, has been painful. In an interview earlier this month with Bloomberg, Elon Musk admitted that his Model 3 gamble came at a high price. Musk noted that while he believes that the Model 3’s production hell is about to end, the whole ordeal has caused him to develop some “permanent mental scar tissue.” In the same interview, Musk also mentioned that he is optimistic about the next few months, and that he would let Tesla’s results speak for themselves.
These results are starting to emerge in a steady stream now. Since the beginning of July, Tesla does not appear to have relaxed its push to deliver as many Model 3 as possible. Test drive programs were started, more than 19,000 new Model 3 VINs were filed in half a month, a new 5-minute Sign & Drive delivery system was adopted, and the Fremont factory appears to be as busy as ever. Tesla enthusiast Anner J. Bonilla, for one, recently shared a recent drive-by video of the Fremont factory (originally uploaded at the Tesla Model 3 Owner’s Club closed Facebook Group), and the facility’s premises were filled with semi trucks waiting to transport Tesla vehicles.
Near Fremont from FB. We are gonna need @boringcompany tunnels to distribute to delivery centers soon. pic.twitter.com/2fhhkADl97
— Anner J. Bonilla 🇵🇷🛩️🔋🔧 (@annerajb) July 18, 2018
Reports have also emerged that Tesla Senior Director of Investor Relations Aaron Chew recently met with investors and analysts, where he reportedly revealed that Tesla is targeting a sustained production rate of 5,000-6,000 Model 3 per week for the third quarter. To support this continued ramp, Tesla seems to be optimizing its workforce once more. Since July started, the electric car maker’s hiring activity has jumped 19%. On July 1, Tesla had 1,662 job openings, and by July 16, the company had 1,974 open positions. Among these, openings for sales and deliveries, such as Customer Experience Specialists and Delivery Experience Specialists were many. Openings for Field Service Associates, which would be assigned to Tesla Energy, have also shown a rise since the beginning of the month.
Perhaps Tesla’s biggest vote of confidence for the Model 3, recently came in the form of Sandy Munro of Munro & Associates, who recently completed his teardown and analysis of the electric car. While initially critical of the Model 3 due to its build quality, Munro ultimately admitted in a recent Autoline Network segment that he had to “eat crow” with regards to the electric car, adding that the vehicle, particularly its battery and electronics, were a “symphony of engineering.” Munro also concluded that based on his company’s teardown and analysis, the Model 3’s Long Range RWD variant could give Tesla a 36% profit. The Detroit veteran further noted that even the base Model 3, which costs $35,000, can give Tesla a profit of 18%.
Amidst signs that Tesla is maintaining its production ramp and Munro’s conclusions that the Model 3 is profitable, the company’s stock started to recover on Tuesday. After a steep dive on Monday after Musk’s incendiary tweets during the weekend, Tesla shares (NASDAQ:TSLA) climbed 4.06% on Tuesday, ending the day at $322.69 per share. With Elon Musk recently returning on Twitter and issuing an apology over his recent statements, there appears to be very little that can get in the way of the company performing better than expected this third quarter.
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.
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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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