Investor's Corner
Notable Tesla bull to run for Board, receives support from major investor
Ross Gerber, a significant shareholder and notable Tesla bull, will be running for a seat on the Tesla Board of Directors at an upcoming meeting in May.
The end of last year was a tumultuous time for Tesla stock and hence, a period of high pressure for the Tesla Board of Directors. Following the company’s stock collapse, many investors were hopeful that the Board would introduce change to regain control of the company’s share price. While the Board chose not to act, Tesla’s continuing stock value rebuild has inspired a new class of investors to join the Board, including Ross Gerber, who told Reuters he plans to run.
Gerber controls respectable 440,000 shares, roughly. Thanks to his experience as CEO of a California-based wealth-management fund, Gerber believes he is qualified and can be a voice for change on the Board. He told Reuters he hopes to be a “friendly activist” on a mission to fix three main issues; public relations, customer service, and succession planning.
Two of Gerber’s concerns are relatively widespread within the realm of Tesla investors. For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s decision to have no communication or public relations office has split opinions, leading some to praise the company’s innovative cost-cutting strategy and others to criticize its lack of openness.
The biggest issue at tesla is NOT demand or quality or competition. ITS OPTICS. $TSLA
— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) January 14, 2023
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The same long-lasting concern can be said for customer service. Despite the growing number of service stations, the continuous expansion of mobile repair, and a series of promises to improve, many customers and investors remain unsatisfied with the operation.
Perhaps Gerber’s most fresh idea is succession planning, though he is not alone in the concern either. Tesla is inexplicably linked to the name and persona of Elon Musk, and with that comes inherent risk as it remains unclear how the company or market would react were he to depart for any reason.
This brings us to why Gerber is not alone in his concerns. Tesla’s third-largest investor, KoGuan Leo, expressed his support for Gerber’s Board membership on Twitter just after he announced his candidacy.
Ross and I shared love of Tesla and humongous respect for what Elon has achieved for Tesla. Tesla will be the most consequential company of our era. https://t.co/cqKsJOq1Ib
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) February 1, 2023
Becoming a Tesla Board member is fairly straightforward, though Gerber has somewhat circumvented the typical system. Typically, upcoming board members are nominated by Tesla’s Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee. They will then have the chance to be included on a ballot for a Board seat at the annual Board meeting. At that time, Tesla investors can vote for each open board seat. The eight Board members hold their positions for three years and are subject to no term limits.
With the upcoming Board meeting in May, Gerber will, in essence, put his ideas to the test. If enough Tesla investors, much like Leo, find his concerns with Tesla to resonate with them, Gerber has a good shot at getting his seat. However, with such entrenched Board leadership that has consistently faced limited challenges, this may be easier said than done.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
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Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
-->Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
-->It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
-->“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
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