Investor's Corner
‘Tesla will be great long-term,’ Musk says as stock slide continues
Tesla CEO Elon Musk affirmed his confidence in the electric automaker by stating it will be great long-term, despite the stock slide that continues to affect shares.
Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) have slid considerably in 2022, along with many other automotive and technology stocks. On Tuesday, the decrease continued as the stock reached levels as low as $156.91. At the time of writing, shares were trading at $161.35, down 3.86 percent on the day.
Amongst a broader market decline, Tesla shares have been affected by various external factors this year. Along with Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter earlier this year, which has Tesla loyalists divided, the company has experienced an increase in competition due to more models and manufacturers entering the sector, and supply chain issues still stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once worth $1 trillion, Tesla has declined to a valuation that is worth roughly half of that. While the second-most valuable car company, Toyota, is only worth around $197 billion, Tesla still holds the title of the most valuable automaker on Earth.
Musk: Tesla will be great long-term
In a response to WholeMarsBlog, Musk said, “Tesla will be great long-term, but doesn’t control macroeconomic tides.”
Tesla will be great long-term, but doesn’t control macroeconomic tides
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 13, 2022
From a macro perspective, Musk is right. Tesla is up over 600 percent in the past five years. Over the past year, a fifty percent decrease in stock price has been the much more surfaced trend amongst media outlets, but the company has not been the only automaker to experience a rough 2022. Nevertheless, the debate regarding what to do with holdings still rages on.
Tesla Shares: Buy or Sell
Discussions amongst Tesla community members have been polarizing, with many die-hards sticking to their plan to hold shares. Jason DeBolt, who is one of the most notable Teslanaires, retired from his corporate job at the age of 39 thanks to his earnings through Tesla stock. Although the company is still being affected by a broader market decline, DeBolt has considered loading up even more shares.
I’m down $11 million on $TSLA since last year and I’m more bullish on Tesla than ever.
I’m seriously considering selling my house to buy more shares. Like wtf.
Tesla will continue growing revenue 50% annually (as it has since 2014), and profits will grow even faster than that.
— Jason DeBolt ⚡️ (@jasondebolt) December 8, 2022
Others, however, are unwilling to ride the wave and have either decided to sell because of market conditions or because of personal opinions on Musk.
Cancelling my @Tesla Model X order that’s been unfulfilled for over a year now and selling my TSLA stock. They need a cancel option that simply says “Elon Musk”. I won’t give my money to someone that no longer shares the same values I hold important. Likely he never held them. pic.twitter.com/yhxSgJUxZw
— Tom Kulzer (@tkulzer) December 13, 2022
Tesla’s 2022 Performance…and others
Tesla’s 59.68 percent decrease in 2022 defies all of the things the company has accomplished for the year. It opened two new production facilities, expanded global production capacity to well over one million vehicles, and is set to deliver over one million cars in a year for the first time.
Tesla launched the Semi last month, adding to its penetrable markets through commercial projects. The company still overwhelmingly leads the U.S. market share for EVs, so what’s the issue?
Tesla, while it has much more to worry about than just building cars and energy systems, is not the only car company experiencing a downturn this year. Tesla shares are down 59.88 percent this year, but here’s how others are doing in 2022:
- Ford stock: $F – down 37.99% this year
- General Motors stock: $GM – down 36.91% this year
- Rivian stock: $RIVN – down 75.63% this year
- Lucid stock: $LCID – down 80.42% this year
- Polestar stock: $PSNY – down 67.38% this year
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder. I do not hold any other automotive stocks currently.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
Tesla 2025 Holiday Update: Here’s what it includes, and what it’s missing
Man credits Grok AI with saving his life after ER missed near-ruptured appendix
