 
									 
																		
									
									
								Investor's Corner
Tesla Model 3 deliveries in China are starting earlier than expected
Tesla recently held a Model 3 delivery ceremony in Beijing, officially setting in motion the electric sedan’s foray into China. With the handover event, Tesla accomplished something very rare — it managed to start deliveries of the electric sedan earlier than the estimated timeline posted by its CEO, the characteristically optimistic Elon Musk.
Tesla’s VP of worldwide sales Robin Ren was present in the delivery event, giving a speech and a presentation about the company and its vehicles. In a statement to Reuters, Tesla noted that the earlier-than-expected deliveries “marked a significant milestone for the market,” particularly as the company has been rather conservative about its timeframes for the Model 3’s push into China.
Mr @robinren gave a speech at the Tesla Model 3 Delivery Ceremony in Beijing China 🇨🇳 $TSLA #Tesla #Model3 #China #TeslaChina pic.twitter.com/QUQle2lVbg
— vincent (@vincent13031925) February 22, 2019
In January, Tesla noted that Model 3 handovers in China would begin around March. This timeline echoed an estimate posted by Elon Musk on Twitter last November, when he noted that some Model 3 deliveries for China could start in March. The usually bold Musk was even more conservative then, stating that “April is more certain” for China’s Model 3 handovers.
Ultimately, Tesla deserves credit for expediting China’s Model 3’s deliveries, especially considering that Elon Musk and the company have both struggled with meeting ambitious deadlines in the past. This became evident in Tesla’s struggles with the Model 3 ramp — an experience that Elon Musk describes as one of the most difficult points of his career. Musk has since pledged to be better with his estimates to avoid over-promising and under-delivering. The earlier-than-expected Model 3 deliveries in China indicates that little by little, Tesla appears to be learning the art of under-promising and over-delivering.
https://twitter.com/vincent13031925/status/1098808431417290752
Apart from the recently-held delivery ceremony, reports from local Chinese media have indicated that Morning Cindy, a cargo ship loaded with Tesla’s electric cars, has arrived at the port of Shanghai on Friday. The vessel is reportedly loaded with more than 1,800 Teslas, over 1,600 of which are Model 3. The recently docked ship arrived in the country not long after another cargo vessel, the Glovis Symphony, reached the port of Tianjin. Emerald Ace, a solar-hybrid car carrier also loaded with Model 3s, is expected to arrive within the next weeks.
The early start of deliveries in China for the Model 3 bodes well for Tesla, particularly as the electric car appears to be capturing the interest of potential buyers in the country. Just recently, Chinese social media users noted that some Tesla stores ended up having system issues due to the influx of orders they were getting for the Model 3. A Weibo user who booked a test drive for the electric sedan described her observations in one of Tesla’s stores. “During the chat with the Tesla specialist, I observed that his cellphone popped three times with new Model 3 orders in about 20-30 mins. In other words, about 6-10 minutes, there is a Model 3 sold in that location,” 老徐是我呀, the Weibo user, wrote.
While the level of interest for the Model 3 among Chinese car buyers appears to be high, Tesla is still pushing a number of initiatives aimed at making the vehicle an even more attractive purchase. Earlier this month, for example, Tesla made Enhanced Autopilot, which previously cost 46,300 yuan (around $6,800) for buyers, standard for all Model 3 purchases in China.
Investor's Corner
Tesla investor Calpers opposes Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award
Musk’s 2025 pay plan will be decided at Tesla’s 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, which will be held on November 6 in Giga Texas.
 
														One of the United States’ largest pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers), has stated that it will be voting against Elon Musk’s 2025 Tesla CEO performance award.
Musk’s 2025 pay plan will be decided at Tesla’s 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, which will be held on November 6 in Giga Texas. Company executives have stated that the upcoming vote will decide Tesla’s fate in the years to come.
Why Calpers opposes Musk’s 2025 performance award
In a statement shared with Bloomberg News, a Calpers spokesperson criticized the scale of Musk’s proposed deal. Calpers currently holds about 5 million Tesla shares, giving its stance meaningful influence among institutional investors.
“The CEO pay package proposed by Tesla is larger than pay packages for CEOs in comparable companies by many orders of magnitude. It would also further concentrate power in a single shareholder,” the spokesperson stated.
This is not the first time Calpers has opposed a major Musk pay deal. The fund previously voted against a $56 billion package proposed for Musk and criticized the CEO’s 2018 performance-based plan, which was perceived as unrealistic due to its ambitious nature at the time. Musk’s 2018 pay plan was later struck down by a Delaware court, though Tesla is currently appealing the decision.
Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award
While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award will result in him becoming a trillionaire, he would not be able to receive any compensation from Tesla unless aggressive operational and financial targets are met. For Musk to receive his full compensation, for example, he would have to grow Tesla’s market cap from today’s $1.1 trillion to $8.5 trillion, effectively making it the world’s most valuable company by a mile.
Musk has also maintained that his 2025 performance award is not about compensation. It’s about his controlling stake at Tesla. “If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Investor's Corner
Tesla enters new stability phase, firm upgrades and adjusts outlook
Dmitriy Pozdnyakov of Freedom Capital upgraded his outlook on Tesla shares from “Sell” to “Hold” on Wednesday, and increased the price target from $338 to $406.
 
														Tesla is entering a new phase of stability in terms of vehicle deliveries, one firm wrote in a new note during the final week of October, backing its position with an upgrade and price target increase on the stock.
Dmitriy Pozdnyakov of Freedom Capital upgraded his outlook on Tesla shares from “Sell” to “Hold” on Wednesday, and increased the price target from $338 to $406.
While most firms are interested in highlighting Tesla’s future growth, which will be catalyzed mostly by the advent of self-driving vehicles, autonomy, and the company’s all-in mentality on AI and robotics, Pozdnyakov is solely focusing on vehicle deliveries.
The analyst wrote in a note to investors that he believes Tesla’s updated vehicle lineup, which includes its new affordable “Standard” trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, is going to stabilize the company’s delivery volumes and return the company to annual growth.
Tesla launches two new affordable models with ‘Standard’ Model 3, Y offerings
Tesla launched the new affordable Model 3 and Model Y “Standard” trims on October 7, which introduced two stripped-down, less premium versions of the all-electric sedan and crossover.
They are both priced at under $40,000, with the Model 3 at $37,990 and the Model Y at $39,990, and while these prices may not necessarily be what consumers were expecting, they are well under what Kelley Blue Book said was the average new car transaction price for September, which swelled above $50,000.
Despite the rollout of these two new models, it is interesting to hear that a Wall Street firm would think that Tesla is going to return to more stable delivery figures and potentially enter a new growth phase.
Many Wall Street firms have been more focused on AI, Robotics, and Tesla’s self-driving project, which are the more prevalent things that will drive investor growth over the next few years.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives, for example, tends to focus on the company’s prowess in AI and self-driving. However, he did touch on vehicle deliveries in the coming years in a recent note.
Ives said in a note on October 2:
“While EV demand is expected to fall with the EV tax credit expiration, this was a great bounce-back quarter for TSLA to lay the groundwork for deliveries moving forward, but there is still work to do to gain further ground from a delivery perspective.”
Tesla has some things to figure out before it can truly consider guaranteed stability from a delivery standpoint. Initially, the next two quarters will be a crucial way to determine demand without the $7,500 EV tax credit. It will also begin to figure out if its new affordable models are attractive enough at their current price point to win over consumers.
Investor's Corner
Bank of America raises Tesla PT to $471, citing Robotaxi and Optimus potential
The firm also kept a Neutral rating on the electric vehicle maker, citing strong progress in autonomy and robotics.
 
														Bank of America has raised its Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target by 38% to $471, up from $341 per share.
The firm also kept a Neutral rating on the electric vehicle maker, citing strong progress in autonomy and robotics.
Robotaxi and Optimus momentum
Bank of America analyst Federico Merendi noted that the firm’s price target increase reflects Tesla’s growing potential in its Robotaxi and Optimus programs, among other factors. BofA’s updated valuation is based on a sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) model extending through 2040, which shows the Robotaxi platform accounting for 45% of total value. The model also shows Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus contributing 19%, and Full Self-Driving (FSD) and the Energy segment adding 17% and 6% respectively.
“Overall, we find that TSLA’s core automotive business represents around 12% of the total value while robotaxi is 45%, FSD is 17%, Energy Generation & Storage is around 6% and Optimus is 19%,” the Bank of America analyst noted.
Still a Neutral rating
Despite recognizing long-term potential in AI-driven verticals, Merendi’s team maintained a Neutral rating, suggesting that much of the optimism is already priced into Tesla’s valuation.
“Our PO revision is driven by a lower cost of equity capital, better Robotaxi progress, and a higher valuation for Optimus to account for the potential entrance into international markets,” the analyst stated.
Interestingly enough, Tesla’s core automotive business, which contributes the lion’s share of the company’s operations today, represents just 12% of total value in BofA’s model.
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