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Tesla shareholders vote in favor of keeping Elon Musk as Chairman

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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is keeping Elon Musk as chairman of its board. During Tesla’s 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, which was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. PST, shareholders ultimately decided to allow Musk to stay as both CEO and chairman of Tesla’s board of directors.

The results of the vote come as a vote of confidence for Musk, who has battled online criticism on a heightened scale since Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call, where he refused to answer inquiries from Bernstein and RBC analysts due to the questions being “boring and boneheaded.” Apart from this, Musk also continues to battle a consistent stream of doubts about Tesla’s ability to meet its ever-elusive Model 3 production goals.

The challenge to Musk’s authority as chairman of Tesla’s board came in April, when shareholder Jing Zhao, who owns 12 shares of the company’s common stock, submitted a proposal calling for Musk’s removal from his chairman post. According to Zhao, Tesla’s growing size, as well as Musk’s commitments to SpaceX and The Boring Company, might cause “conflicts” down the road. Proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis supported Zhao’s proposal.

During the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, however, the initiative to remove Elon Musk as Tesla’s chairman came to an unsuccessful end, as investors opted to keep the serial tech entrepreneur at the head of the company by “more than a super majority vote.”

In a report on Tuesday, analysts from Needham & Co. stated that Tesla’s Annual Shareholder Meeting would ultimately be all about the Model 3’s production ramp rates. The firm, which has a “Hold” rating on Tesla stock, also stated that it expects Model 3 production to turn profitable by 2019. Needham analysts further indicated that Tesla should see a near-term benefit as it starts delivering the Model 3 Performance, which costs $78,000 with all options except Autopilot.

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“Margins and average selling price should see some near-term benefit as Tesla starts delivering the Performance version of Model 3 (fully loaded at $78K), but in order to reach the target gross margin of about 25%, the Model 3 needs to sell all configurations including the base model, which won’t come until 2019 at the earliest. Tesla should be able to generate more than $10K/car it sold, and if Model 3 ramps well in the next few quarters, its cash flow will substantially increase.” the analysts wrote, according to a Barron’s report.

Tesla is currently attempting to hit a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 per week by the end of Q2 2018. While the compact electric car’s manufacturing has had its setbacks over the past few quarters, recent reports about the Model 3 line are starting to get more positive. In May alone, Tesla registered a record 18,000 new Model 3 VINs, a number that was matched only by the company’s production of the vehicle from mid-2017 to March 2018.

A leaked email from Elon Musk further revealed that the Model 3 line is now at a consistent rate of 3,500 vehicles per week. By the end of May, reports also emerged stating that Tesla is flying in six airplanes’ worth of new robots and equipment from Europe. These robots, which are reportedly set to be installed in Gigafactory 1, are expected to address further production bottlenecks in the Model 3 battery module line.

As of writing, Tesla stock is trading up 0.16% at $291.14 per share during after-hours trading.

Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.

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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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Tesla called ‘biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen’ by Yale associate dean

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is being called “the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen” by Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeff Sonnenfeld, who made the comments in a recent interview with CNBC.

Sonnenfeld’s comments echo those of many of the company’s skeptics, who argue that its price-to-earnings ratio is far too high when compared to other companies also in the tech industry. Tesla is often compared to companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft when these types of discussions come up.

Fundamentally, yes, Tesla does trade at a P/E level that is significantly above that of any comparable company.

However, it is worth mentioning that Tesla is not traded like a typical company, either.

Here’s what Sonnenfeld said regarding Tesla:

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“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Many analysts have admitted in the past that they believe Tesla is an untraditional stock in the sense that many analysts trade it based on narrative and not fundamentals. Ryan Brinkman of J.P. Morgan once said:

“Tesla shares continue to strike us as having become completely divorced from the fundamentals.”

Dan Nathan, another notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, recently turned bullish on the stock because of “technicals and sentiment.” He said just last week:

“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”

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Nathan said Tesla shares show signs of strength moving forward, including holding its 200-day moving average and holding against current resistance levels.

Sonnenfeld’s synopsis of Tesla shares points out that there might be “a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

This could refer to different things: perhaps his recent $1 billion stock buy, which sent the stock skyrocketing, or the fact that many Tesla investors are fans and owners who do not buy and sell on numbers, but rather on news that Musk might report himself.

Tesla is trading around $423.76 at the time of publication, as of 3:25 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Elon Musk affirms Tesla commitment and grueling work schedule: “Daddy is very much home”

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his commitment to the electric vehicle maker and its future projects this week, responding to speculation following his $1 billion purchase of TSLA stock. 

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market, extending a rally fueled in part by Musk’s TSLA purchase.

Elon Musk’s nonstop work schedule

Amidst the reaction of TSLA stock to Musk’s $1 billion investment, Tesla owners such as @greggertruck noted that “Daddy’s home.” Musk replied, stating that “Daddy is very much home.” He then shared details of a packed weekend of work, which was definitely grueling but completely within character for a “wartime CEO.”

Musk did note, however, that he had lunch with his kids during the weekend despite his extremely busy schedule.

“Daddy is very much home. Am burning the midnight oil with Optimus engineering on Friday night, then redeye overnight to Austin arriving 5am, wake up to have lunch with my kids and then spend all Saturday afternoon in deep technical reviews for the Tesla AI5 chip design. 

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“Fly to Colossus II on Monday to walk the whole datacenter floor, review transformers and power production (excellent progress), depart midnight. Then up to 12 hours of back-to-back meetings across all Tesla departments, but with a particular focus on AI/Autopilot, Optimus production plans, and vehicle production/delivery,” Musk wrote in his post

Wartime CEO

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Musk as operating in “wartime CEO mode,” highlighting autonomous driving and AI as a trillion-dollar market opportunity for Tesla. Musk reiterated this point late last month as well, when he outlined the several projects he is juggling among his numerous companies. At the time, Musk stated that he was busy with Starship 10, Grok 5, and Tesla V14. This was despite his notable presence on X. 

With Tesla Master Plan Part IV being partly released, the company is entering what could very well be its most ambitious stage to date. To usher in an era of sustainable abundance, Tesla would definitely require a “wartime CEO,” someone who could remain locked in and determined to push through any obstacles to ensure that the company achieves its goals.

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Tesla analyst says Musk stock buy should send this signal to investors

“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish.”

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased roughly $1 billion in Tesla shares on Friday, and analysts are now breaking down the move as the stock is headed upward.

One of them is William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who said in a new note to investors on Monday that Musk’s move should send a signal of confidence to stock buyers, especially considering the company’s numerous catalysts that currently exist.

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

Dorsheimer said in the note:

“With Musk’s (Tesla stock) purchase, combined with the upward momentum for delivery expectations and robotaxi rollout, we are becoming more bullish. This purchase is Musk’s first buy since 2020. To us, this sends a strong signal of confidence in the most important part of Tesla’s future business, robotaxi.”

Musk putting an additional $1 billion back into the company in the form of more stock ownership is obviously a huge vote of confidence.

He knows more than anyone about the progress Tesla has made and is making on the Robotaxi platform, as well as the company’s ongoing efforts to solve vehicle autonomy. If he’s buying stock, it is more than likely a good sign.

Tesla has continued to expand its Robotaxi platform in a number of ways. The project has gotten bigger in terms of service area, vehicle fleet, and testing population. Tesla has also recently received a permit to test in Nevada, unlocking the potential to expand into a brand-new state for the company.

In the note, Dorsheimer also touched on Musk’s recent pay package, revealing that William Blair recently met with Tesla’s Board of Directors, who gave the firm some more color on the situation:

“We recently participated in a meeting with Tesla’s board of directors to discuss the details of Musk’s performance package. The board is confident of its position in the Delaware case and anticipates a verdict by end of year. It does not expect a similar situation to occur under new Texas jurisdiction. Musk has the board’s full support, and we expect he’ll get more than enough shareholder support for this to pass with flying colors.”

Tesla stock is up over 6 percent so far today, trading at $421.50 at the time of publication.

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