Investor's Corner
Tesla Model 3 in $35k base trim to start production ‘in the next 8 months’
Elon Musk’s prediction last July that the Model 3’s production hell is coming to an end seems to be ringing true. Tesla is currently in the final month of Q3 2018, and according to Musk in a letter to employees shared last Friday, the company is on the cusp of its “most amazing quarter” yet, as it prepares to build and deliver “more than twice as many cars” as it did in the second quarter.
The catalyst for Tesla’s growth is the Model 3. Dubbed by Elon Musk as a “bet-the-company” vehicle, the Model 3’s success or failure could dictate Tesla’s future. So far, though, the Model 3 has been performing well, being dubbed by auto sales tracking website GoodCarBadCar as the 5th best-selling passenger car in the United States last August. Tesla was able to achieve this despite producing only three variants of the electric car — the Long Range RWD, the Long Range AWD, and the AWD Performance version. The Model 3’s base trim, which is expected to cost $35,000 before any options, is still not being produced.
If Tesla plays its cards right, the $35,000 standard trim Model 3 could very well become a fossil-fuel car killer. At its price point, the base Model 3 becomes comparable in price to some of the United States’ best-selling passenger cars like the Toyota Camry, whose top-of-the-line XSE V6 trim is priced at $34,950. While the potential of the $35,000 Model 3 is vast, Tesla and even CEO Elon Musk have been quite conservative when releasing updates about the upcoming electric sedan.
That is, until now. Just recently, Worm Capital analysts Eric Markowitz and Dan Crowley published a post on the financial firm’s website outlining their insights on Tesla after a tour of Gigafactory 1. Tesla’s head of investor relations Martin Viecha facilitated the tour, while also provided some updates on the company’s upcoming projects. Among these projects was the $35,000 standard trim Model 3.
According to the analysts, they were informed that the Model 3’s base variant, which is equipped with a shorter-range battery, would likely start production “in the next 8 months.” With this statement in mind, it appears safe to infer that by April or Mar 2019, Tesla would be manufacturing the $35,000 base Model 3.
Contrary to an emerging Tesla bear thesis that demand for the Model 3 is declining, the analysts noted that the electric car maker is currently focused on selling higher-margin cars such as the Model 3 Performance and the Long Range AWD Model 3, where “demand continues to exceed what is being produced.” This is in line with Tesla head of sales Robin Ren’s statement in the Q2 2018 earnings call, when he noted that the company is seeing “more orders for the All-Wheel Drive dual-motor car and performance cars combined than the rear wheel drives.”
Back in June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided a rough estimate as to when the initial production of the $35,000 Standard trim Model 3 would begin. Musk also noted that Tesla would likely start producing the vehicle’s smaller battery packs at the end of 2018.
“We will definitely offer a $35,000 version of the Model 3. And probably at the end of this year is when we will be able to make a smaller version of the battery pack, and get into volume production of $35,000 version in Q1 next year. We would definitely honor that obligation, and we would do so right now if it were possible,” Musk said.
The recent timeline related by Martin Viecha covers and exceeds Q1 2019, considering that his estimated timeframe ends at either April or May next year. That being said, Tesla definitely appears to be getting ready for the rollout of the $35,000 base Model 3, as well as succeeding models like the standard-range AWD version. Once Tesla is manufacturing the full range of the Model 3’s variants, it would not be too surprising if the vehicle ends up dethroning best-selling passenger cars like the Toyota Camry in the United States.
The Tesla Model 3’s base variant has a 220-mile range, a 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds, and a top speed of 130 mph. The vehicle starts at $35,000 before any options.
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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