Investor's Corner
Here’s what Tesla owner-investors will be asking Elon Musk today
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.”
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.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) received an upgraded rating on its shares from Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, who recently took a trip to Austin to visit the company’s data centers and production lines ahead of several high-profile product launches set for this year.
It was a bold move, especially considering Tesla shares are under immense pressure currently, fending off negative news regarding the company’s sentiment and potentially lower-than-expected delivery figures due to the launch of a new version of its most popular vehicle, the Model Y.
However, the bulls on Wall Street are still considering Tesla to be a safe play, especially considering its robust presence in various industries, including automotive, energy, and AI/Robotics.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard said in a note that, during a recent visit to Tesla’s Cortex AI data centers and the production line at Gigafactory Texas, it was clear there is a lot of potential and runway for Tesla in 2025:
“On 3/18, we visited Tesla’s Cortex AI data centers and the factory’s production lines ahead of the company’s introduction of its Robotaxi segment (targeted for June in Austin, followed by CA later in 2025). With Tesla’s shares now down ~45% YRD, we upgrade Tesla to Overweight (from Neutral) ahead of upcoming material catalysts. Our $425 12-month PT is unchanged. Our Thoughts: Attractive Entry Point Ahead of Material Catalysts.”
Sheppard went on to mention the catalysts, which he believes are the Robotaxi rollout in Austin in June, along with the continued rollout of Full Self-Driving in China, the eventual rollout of FSD in Europe, and the introduction of the affordable models in the first half of this year, and those were just on the automotive side.
There are several others, including Optimus, growth in the energy division, and in the longer term, the Semi.
In terms of potential weaknesses, Sheppard expects the likely removal of the EV tax credit and some of its growth to be offset by tariffs as the two big things that stand in the way of even more growth for the company.
Tesla is up over 5 percent on Wednesday, trading at $236.86.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged over 7 percent on Wednesday, canceling out some of the losses it has felt this week.
It has been a less-than-ideal start for Tesla in 2025, as the company has wiped out all of its gains felt from the victorious election campaign of President Donald Trump. The stock is down 34 percent so far this year.
The losses have mostly been felt due to reports of decreased demand due to pushback against CEO Elon Musk and his support of President Trump, as well as investor concern over the CEO’s personal use of time between the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Tesla itself.
In a note this week from Wedbush, analyst Dan Ives wrote:
“Musk needs to step up as Tesla CEO at this critical juncture. In a nutshell, the word ‘balance’ has been missing with Elon Musk and his ability to run Tesla as CEO….while instead focusing all of his energy and time driving his DOGE initiative within the Trump Administration. Since Trump’s White House 2nd term kicked off in January, we have seen Musk and Trump connected at the hip with Musk essentially living at the White House and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. There has been little to no sign of Musk at any Tesla factory or manufacturing facility the last two months and perception has become reality for Tesla shares. Trump getting elected President was a huge moment for Musk and Tesla in our view as this will create the fast track for an autonomous federal roadmap…however the DOGE efforts have now intertwined Tesla into this brewing political firestorm.”
Wednesday’s slight bump for Tesla shares is likely related to the support the company received from President Trump yesterday, who purchased a Model S sedan at the White House and pledged to pay for it with a check.
President Donald Trump buys a Tesla at the White House – Here’s which model he chose
The move was one that signaled a buying spree from high-profile Republicans, including Sean Hannity, among others, who announced their support for Musk and Tesla:
As promised yesterday, I Just ordered my new self driving Tesla! Over 1000HP, 0-60 in 2.0 seconds!
Details on how to win the Tesla of your Choice soon on https://t.co/9hkyEX1UVi! pic.twitter.com/PSCCtUsXK2
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) March 11, 2025
Tesla shares closed at $248.09 on Wednesday, up 7.59%.
Tesla bull ARK Invest loaded up on over $20 million worth of the automaker’s shares on Monday after the company saw its largest slide on the market since late 2020.
Shares dropped over 15 percent on Monday, mostly due to pushback on the stock as CEO Elon Musk heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His involvement with the U.S. government directly has sent some investors into a predicament over Musk’s dedication to Tesla.
There are also concerns regarding Q1 deliveries, which will be a big indication of where the year could be headed for Tesla.
The Monday slide was the biggest since late 2020 when shares dropped over 21 percent.
However, the slide presents a massive buying opportunity for investors, especially those who operate ETFs, like ARK. Long term, ARK believes Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) will be exponentially more expensive, especially leaning on the thesis that Robotaxi and AI/Optimus will translate to major growth in yet another sector for the company.
ARK bolstered its position on $TSLA in its ARKK Innovation ETF with a purchase of 68,164 shares. Tesla is the largest holding in ARKK with over $531 million in value. Tesla makes up exactly 10 percent of the ARKK ETF.
It also bought another 11,154 shares in its ARKQ Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF.
It’s no secret Tesla shares have taken a substantial hit in 2025, especially as the company’s price on Wall Street exploded following President Trump’s successful election campaign last year.
So far in 2025, Tesla shares are down over 38 percent. They are up nearly 5 percent as of 2:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Even bullish analysts are hoping some focus returns to Tesla on Musk’s part.
Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note last night following the broad sell off:
“This is a gut check moment for the Tesla bulls (including ourselves) after this massive sell-off in Tesla shares with fears mounting/accelerating. The bears own the Tesla narrative in the near-term as lackluster sales numbers from Europe, China, and the US in January/February along with Musk protests/brand worries have created many concerns.”
He continued:
“While the DOGE/Trump Musk iron clad partnership has created major brand worries for Tesla…..we estimate less than 5% of Tesla sales globally are at risk from these issues despite the global draconian narrative for Musk. Importantly, we expect Musk will better balance his time between DOGE and Tesla/SpaceX over the course of 2025 and some of these distraction issues will fade.”
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