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Here’s what Tesla owner-investors will be asking Elon Musk today

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During Tesla’s upcoming Q4 and Full Year 2018 earnings call this Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET), the electric car maker would be taking questions from retail investors that are aggregated from Say, a startup that creates and develops investor communication tools.

Over the past weeks, Tesla’s retail investors have submitted and voted on questions that they wish to be discussed in the company’s upcoming earnings call. After collecting the shareholder inquiries on its website, Say would be delivering them to Tesla’s investor relations department. In a statement to Bloomberg Law, a Tesla spokesperson has confirmed that the company would indeed be answering some questions from retail investors.

The Say campaign appears to be quite popular among shareholders. So far, over 250 inquiries have been posted by investors representing more than $50 million worth of TSLA shares. Among the most popular questions for the company involve Tesla’s customer service issues, Model 3’s annual targets, and a possible 2170 battery update for the Model S and X. The inquiries are vetted as well, since Say only allows verified Tesla shareholders to vote and submit questions. 

Here’s the Top 5 questions from Say’s Tesla Q4 earnings page. 

  • Owners, many of them with large followings online, are becoming very vocal about Tesla’s worsening customer service experience with delivery, service, and repair. This has a severe impact on sales and returning sales. What are you doing to change this growing negative reputation?
  • How are feeling about demand right now across the product line? Is 500k-700k units at ~$42k ASP still a realistic annual target for Model 3, even considering the impact of Model Y on demand? Do you continue to see S/X ~100k annually?
  • If and when will Tesla switch Model S & X to 2170 battery cells? What percent range improvement do you expect?
  • Can you please share an update on Full Self Driving and Tesla Network development? When will customers start to see FSD features? What’s a best case timeline for the Tesla Network to go live?
  • Where will the Tesla Semi & Model Y be produced? Can you share a timeline on the expected production ramp of these vehicles?

This would not be the first time for Tesla to take a question from a retail investor. Last May, Elon Musk courted Wall Street’s ire after he dismissed a couple of analysts, dubbing their inquiries as “boring” and “boneheaded.” Instead, Musk opted to take questions from retail investor Galileo Russell, a retail investor who hosts a YouTube channel called HyperChange TV. Rusell’s inquiries, which were also compiled from the Tesla community, were appreciated by Musk, who proceeded to give a notable amount of updates on the company’s upcoming projects. Ultimately, Galileo and Say would end up working together in the development of the question platform that would be used in Tesla’s earnings call later today.

In a statement to Teslarati, Galileo shared some questions that he hopes Tesla would address in its Q4 and Full Year 2018 earnings call.

“I’m so happy Tesla has chosen to take retail questions from SAY. The top questions surrounding Tesla’s worsening Net Promoter Scores & customer service pinpoint exactly what I want to know. What is Tesla doing to address its biggest weakness? Additionally, Rob’s question from Tesla Daily (currently #2) about Model 3 demand at maturity, will give us clarity on normalized demand for the car now that it has been available for more than a year.” 

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Ultimately, Tesla appears to be set on democratizing its process of communicating its earnings to shareholders, the media, as well as institutional investors. This is yet another step away from convention, considering that earnings calls usually feature inquiries from Wall Street analysts and the occasional member of the media. By supporting Say’s campaign, electric car maker is all but ensuring that its retail investors would be able to ask inquiries that are relevant and pertinent to the Tesla community as a whole.

if any, Tesla’s support for the retail investors’ questions would most definitely make today’s earnings call the last thing from “boring.”

Tesla is set to release its Q4 and Full Year 2018 financial results after markets close today. Following the release of its Q4 and full-year 2018 financial results, Tesla will be holding its earnings call, which will begin at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time).

The full list of questions submitted by TSLA retail investors in Say’s platform could be accessed here.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla analyst says this common earnings narrative is losing importance

“Numbers are going down next year, but that’s ok because it’s all about autonomy.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

A Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) analyst is doubling down on the idea that one common earnings narrative is losing importance as the company continues to work toward new technologies and projects.

This week, Tesla will report earnings for the third quarter, and one thing people always pay attention to is deliveries. Although Tesla reveals its deliveries for the quarter well before it reports earnings, many investors will look for commentary regarding the company’s strategy for responding to the loss of the $7,500 tax credit.

Tesla has made a few moves already, including a lease deal that takes a substantial amount of money off, launching new Standard models, and cutting up to 23 percent off of lease pricing.

Tesla makes crazy move to spur short-term demand in the U.S.

However, analysts are looking at the company in a different light.

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Aligning with the narrative that Tesla is not just a car company and has many different projects, Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management believes many investors need to look at another part of the business.

Munster said the delivery figures for Q3, which landed at 497,099, the highest in company history, were padded by customers rushing to showrooms to take advantage of the expiring tax credit.

He believes that deliveries will be more realistic in subsequent quarters, but investors should not worry because the focus on Tesla is not going to be on how many cars it hands over to customers:

“Numbers are going down next year, but that’s ok because it’s all about autonomy.”

Tesla has been working nonstop to roll out a dedicated Robotaxi platform in various cities across the United States, and has already launched in two states: Texas and California.

It has also received regulatory approvals to test driverless Robotaxis in Arizona and Nevada, while seeking permissions in Florida and other states, according to the company’s online job postings.

Munster continued:

“Most people are hyper-focused on the Robotaxi opportunity and not focused as much on FSD.”

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While Robotaxi is incredibly important, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite is also extremely crucial moving forward, as it sets the stage for the company to roll out a formidable self-driving service.

Tesla rolled out its newest FSD software to more owners last night, and as it expands, the company is gaining valuable data to refine its performance.

Earnings will be reported tomorrow at market close.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm

ISS said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

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tesla elon musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package, which was proposed by the company last month, has hit its first bit of adversity from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

Musk has called the firm “ISIS,” a play on its name relating it to the terrorist organization, in the past.

The pay package aims to lock in Musk to the CEO role at Tesla for the next decade, as it will only be paid in full if he is able to unlock each tranche based on company growth, which will reward shareholders.

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However, the sum is incredibly large and would give Musk the ability to become the first trillionaire in history, based on his holdings. This is precisely why ISS is advising shareholders to vote against the pay plan.

The group said that Musk’s pay package will lock him in, which is the goal of the Board, and it is especially important to do this because of his “track record and vision.”

However, it also said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

The release from ISS called the size of Musk’s pay package “astronomical” and said its design could continue to pay the CEO massive amounts of money for even partially achieving the goals. This could end up in potential dilution for existing investors.

If Musk were to reach all of the tranches, Tesla’s market cap could reach up to $8.5 trillion, which would make it the most valuable company in the world.

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Tesla has made its own attempts to woo shareholders into voting for the pay package, which it feels is crucial not only for retaining Musk but also for continuing to create value for shareholders.

Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+

Musk has also said he would like to have more ownership control of Tesla, so he would not have as much of an issue with who he calls “activist shareholders.”

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Investor's Corner

Barclays lifts Tesla price target ahead of Q3 earnings amid AI momentum

Analyst Dan Levy adjusted his price target for TSLA stock from $275 to $350, while maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating for the EV maker.

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Credit: Tesla China

Barclays has raised its price target for Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA), with the firm’s analysts stating that the electric vehicle maker is approaching its Q3 earnings with two contrasting “stories.” 

Analyst Dan Levy adjusted his price target for TSLA stock from $275 to $350, while maintaining an “Equal Weight” rating for the EV maker.

Tesla’s AI and autonomy narrative

Levy told investors that Tesla’s “accelerating autonomous and AI narrative,” amplified by CEO Elon Musk’s proposed compensation package, is energizing market sentiment. The analyst stated that expectations for a Q3 earnings-per-share beat are supported by improved vehicle delivery volumes and stronger-than-expected gross margins, as noted in a TipRanks report.

Tesla has been increasingly positioning itself as an AI-driven company, with Elon Musk frequently emphasizing the long-term potential of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and products like Optimus, both of which are heavily driven by AI. The company’s AI focus has also drawn the support of key companies like Nvidia, one of the world’s largest companies today.

Still cautious on TSLA

Despite bullish AI sentiments, Barclays maintained its caution on Tesla’s underlying business metrics. Levy described the firm’s stance as “leaning neutral to slightly negative” heading into the Q3 earnings call, citing concerns about near-term fundamentals of the electric vehicle maker.

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Barclays is not the only firm that has expressed its concerns about TSLA stock recently. As per previous reports, BNP Paribas Exane also shared an “Underperform” rating on the company due to its two biggest products, the Robotaxi and Optimus, still generating “zero sales today, yet inform ~75% of our ~$1.02 trillion price target.” BNP Paribas, however, also estimated that Tesla will have an estimated 525,000 active Robotaxis by 2030, 17 million cumulative Optimus robot deliveries by 2040, and more than 11 million FSD subscriptions by 2030.

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