Investor's Corner
Tesla’s new Lathrop site nears completion amid Elon Musk’s Q4 Model 3 push
Tesla’s 870,000 sq ft building in the city of Lathrop, CA continues to take shape, with the massive and rather mysterious facility’s roofing now being complete. The new Lathrop site’s progress comes amidst the electric car maker’s efforts to produce and deliver as many vehicles to customers before the end of December.
Tesla enthusiast and drone operator Troopr1023 noted in a YouTube upload that the facility is significantly more refined since his last flyover, which was conducted last November 18. During that time, the large building only had around 2/3 of its roofing installed, and there was very little work being done around the facility.
Apart from its full roofing, the areas of the facility where its numerous loading bays are located are now being overlaid with cement. A parking lot located in what appears to be the facility’s front end is also being constructed. The drone operator did note, though, that the spaces allotted for parking lots immediately around the site are rather few; thus, giving the impression that the facility would likely have relatively few employees.
Tesla is yet to disclose the purpose of the Lathrop facility, though speculations are abounding that the site might be used as a distribution center. Considering that the structure is built with numerous loading bays on each end, and considering that the size of each bay seems to be designed to fit a semi-trailer, it does seem plausible that the structure would be used in connection with Tesla’s vehicle distribution activities.
Even prior to the construction of the 870,000 sq ft building, Tesla’s presence in Lathrop was already notable. Local news agency Manteca Bulletin, for one, noted that the upcoming facility would be complimenting a 500,000 sq ft Tesla-owned site in the city. Lathrop is also home to one of the electric car maker’s loading hubs, which holds vehicles before they are shipped to other locations.
Tesla’s progress in the construction of the Lathrop facility comes amidst the company’s efforts to produce and deliver yet another record number of vehicles this quarter. The electric car maker defied the odds in Q3 by posting a $312 million profit, and since then, Elon Musk has noted that Tesla should remain cash-flow positive in the coming quarters as well. With the end of Q4 at hand, and with the $7,500 federal tax credit set to expire at the end of the month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been encouraging potential buyers to purchase an electric car today.
Tesla has released all cars for sale where original customer can’t take delivery before year end, as well as test drive / display cars, which cost less.
Reminder to US buyers that $7500 tax credit drops in half in 8 days. Order online at https://t.co/46TXqRrsdr or visit stores.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2018
In a recent series of tweets, Musk noted that Tesla is releasing inventory, display, and test drive vehicles for purchase. Musk even noted in a recent tweet that these vehicles, as well as cars that belonged to reservation holders who couldn’t take delivery before the year ended, would cost less. The bold CEO further added that orders for the Mid Range Model 3 should be delivered by the year’s end.
Perhaps most notable, though, was an announcement that Musk recently made about the $7,500 federal tax credit. When asked by a Mid Range Model 3 reservation holder what would happen if an order is not fulfilled before the end of December, Musk noted that Tesla would cover the tax credit difference.
If Tesla committed delivery & customer made good faith efforts to receive before year end, Tesla will cover the tax credit difference
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2018
While Tesla is making progress on its US facilities and deliveries, the company is already laying the foundations for an even more aggressive ramp next year. In Europe, for example, reports have emerged that Tesla is preparing to ship 3,000 Model 3 per week for the region. The rollout of CCS-compatible Superchargers for the Model 3 have also begun. On the other side of the world, Gigafactory 3 in China continues to take shape, with local reports stating that the facility is progressing “one year ahead of schedule.”
Watch the Lathrop facility’s latest drone flyover in the video below.
In a pointed message on X, Elon Musk warned that firms maintaining significant short positions in SpaceX over time face “very low” survival probability.
The statement comes amid post-IPO volatility for the rocket company, now trading under the ticker $SPCX.
The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 17, 2026
Five weeks after what was described as the largest IPO in history, the stock had fallen roughly 30% from its peak above $2.6 trillion, briefly surpassing Microsoft and Amazon in market value. Short sellers celebrated gains of about $8.7 billion, but Musk’s reply underscores his long-term conviction.
The warning directly echoes a detailed bullish analysis arguing that Starship’s cost reductions could unlock a multi-trillion-dollar space economy. Projects ranging from solar power beamed from orbit and asteroid mining to orbital data centers and Mars terraforming were projected to create over $100 trillion in new market capitalization.
In this vision, SpaceX acts as the essential infrastructure provider, akin to AWS for cloud computing, capturing monopoly-like revenues from launches, crew transport, and data traffic across a rapidly expanding frontier.
This is far from the first time Musk has targeted short sellers. With Tesla, he has repeatedly framed persistent bears as destined for major losses. In July 2024, Musk declared that once Tesla achieves full autonomy and volume production of Optimus robots, “anyone still holding a short position will be obliterated. Even Gates,” referencing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ reported short bets.
Elon Musk reveals what Tesla stock surge could do to Bill Gates
Earlier, in 2018, he taunted shorts that they had “about three weeks before their short position explodes,” a remark followed by sharp stock gains. Musk has also called short selling “value destroying” and once suggested it “should be illegal,” viewing it as betting against innovation and progress.
Critics often dismiss Musk’s optimism as hype, especially when near-term metrics like quarterly deliveries or stock fluctuations disappoint.
Yet his pattern remains consistent: framing short positions against his companies as fundamentally misjudging exponential technological leaps. For SpaceX shorts, the message is clear: betting against multi-planetary ambitions and the infrastructure monopoly they enable carries existential risk for the firms involved.
As Musk and supporters see it, the space economy’s upside dwarfs Earth-bound valuation models, making today’s dips temporary in a decades-long ascent.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.
Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.
The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.
Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.
SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
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