Tesla

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Tesla CEO Elon Musk was found not liable Friday of defrauding a group of Tesla investors who claimed to lose billions of dollars as a result of a 2018 tweet that suggested he was taking Tesla private, according to multiple reports , following a high-profile trial where Musk took the stand to defend himself. Key Facts The August 7, 2018 tweet that prompted the lawsuit said: “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” The investors argued Musk’s tweet was insincere and resulted in them losing money since Tesla’s stock quickly rose following the tweet before dropping when it became clear the company was not becoming private. Musk testified last month he thought he was “doing the right thing” by sending the tweet, claiming he wanted to alert all investors that he believed a buyout deal from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund was certain, even though no agreement had been … [Read more...] about Elon Musk Found Not Liable In Trial Over Tesla Privatization Tweet

(CTN News) – As a result of Tesla’s decision to reduce prices in the US by up to 20 percent at the beginning of the year, both the newly produced and used electric vehicle markets have been affected. It is well known that the value of used Tesla cars is declining. Some analysts and executives from rival companies have expressed concern that the price cuts may have a detrimental effect on the residual value of the vehicles. Additionally, other automobile manufacturers, including Ford, have followed suit and begun to announce price reductions, albeit cautiously. Tesla, however, will also benefit from an increase in demand for its products – and this is likely the primary goal of CEO Elon Musk when approving the price cut. In the recent Q4 and full year 2022 earnings call, Musk stated that Tesla saw such high demand for its vehicles that it started increasing the prices of a number of its vehicles in January, including the Model Y Long Range (by $500). Teslarati … [Read more...] about Tesla Model Y Long Range Delivery Estimate Has Been Revised To March-May 2023

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Interior dash view of Tesla's Model 3 sedan at the company's store in Washington, D.C. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images Elon Musk wowed millions of people who watched the livestream of a flawless first launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket , which carried a Tesla roadster into space, capped by the elegant, simultaneous landing of two boosters. Musk’s euphoria was undiminished as he shifted gears on Wednesday to Tesla, pointing to a silver lining for the high-flying carmaker that capped a year of big losses and production headaches for its critical Model 3 sedan. The company reported a whopping $675.4 million net loss for the final quarter of 2017 and a $1.96 billion deficit for the year, the most ever on both counts. Loss per share was $4.01 on a GAAP basis, or $3.04 per share excluding some items. That was better than consensus estimates for adjusted EPS losses of $3.10 to $3.19, and … [Read more...] about Tesla’s $675 Million Loss Pulls Elon Musk Back To Earth After Stellar SpaceX Launch

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla, speaks during an event at the Hornsdale wind farm, operated ... [+] by Neoen SAS, near Jamestown, South Australia, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg In late January , I noted that Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s executive compensation plan raised significant red flags. Since then, proxy advisor Glass Lewis recommended investors vote against the proposal , which could grant Musk performance-based options worth over $2.6 billion. The red flags haven’t stopped there. More executive departures, more missed production projections, and competitors taking market share have left Tesla’s sky-high valuation with even more downside risk. Recent Departures Fail to Stoke Confidence The launch of the Model 3 marks a critical period for Tesla. As the company struggles to hit production targets on its first mass-market vehicle, one would hope the executive team … [Read more...] about Time To Follow Tesla Executives And Run For The Hills?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The torrent of executive departures from Tesla continued this weekend as news emerged on Friday night that senior vice president of engineering Doug Field is "taking a break from the company," and the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla’s former director of field performance engineering, Matthew Schwall, left for Alphabet's Waymo last week. Field’s decision to take a hiatus is a stinging blow for Tesla, as he was the closest thing to a "car guy" in Tesla's senior leadership team. That Field could be considered a car guy when his automotive experience, according to his LinkedIn profile, consisted of six years as an engineer at Ford that ended 25 years ago shows how bereft of automotive manufacturing experience Tesla is at the senior level. Rescue workers proceed with caution around the spot where a Tesla slammed into a tree in Baarn, on ... [+] September 7, 2016. Pioneering US electric car firm Tesla said on … [Read more...] about Tesla Executives Continue To Flee As The Company Goes Rogue With Its Balance Sheet

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin With an equity market capitalization of $53 billion Tesla is not often characterized as a small company.  In the metrics that matter, however, Tesla is truly a minnow amongst the whales that dominate global auto production.  As the world’s automakers look to transform themselves from manufacturers and marketers of cars to providers of "mobility solutions" the need for investment is enormous.  Most mobility solutions are based on battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) which will eventually be capable of performing self-driving, thereby becoming autonomous vehicles (AVs.) This transition, like most, requires one material above all: capital.  That capital needs to be in liquid form, and that is where Tesla trails its rivals badly.  In the table below I present the amount of automotive (i.e. ex-financial services) cash sitting on balance sheets of the world's major global automakers; figures are as of the most recent reporting periods … [Read more...] about Tesla Is Staring Down $267 Billion In Cash Firepower From The Global Automakers

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A future customer sits in a Tesla vehicle during a visit to a Tesla showroom in Beijing on July 4, ... [+] 2018. WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images Fresh off hitting an elusive production target for the Model 3 electric sedan—and a weekend offer to help rescue the young soccer players trapped in a Thai cave—Tesla CEO Elon Musk popped up in Shanghai to unveil plans for his long-held goal of a massive Chinese plant. What wasn't mentioned was how Tesla will cover the facility’s multibillion-dollar price tag. Dubbed Gigafactory 3, the project envisioned for the Shanghai Lingang industrial zone will be able to build 500,000 electric Teslas a year, as well as all the batteries and motors they’ll need, according to a city government statement provided by Tesla. The plant, which Shanghai said would be the largest foreign-backed industrial project in its history, could also cost as much as $5 billion, according to Robert … [Read more...] about How Is Musk Going To Pay For Tesla’s Chinese Gigafactory?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Tesla’s attempts to raise capital in any way possible other than selling stock entered the realm of the bizarre this weekend with news of the company’s requests for clawbacks from some suppliers.  As Elon Musk and co. attempt to run a global car company on shoestring, it’s notable how much private equity and venture capital money is flowing into the electric vehicle (BEV) and autonomous vehicle (AV) space.  Tesla has built an expensive infrastructure (40,000 employees strong, reportedly, before the recent layoffs) without the positive cash flow that legacy automakers derive from selling vehicles with internal combustion engines. I mentioned NIO in my Forbes column yesterday, and it is striking how different this company's business model is from Tesla’s.  Also striking is the fact that NIO has attracted several of the same key investors that have backed Musk at Tesla. Devoted Teslaphiles mindlessly repeat the mantra “Elon is … [Read more...] about As Tesla Begs Its Suppliers For Capital, NIO Has Raised Billions From Some Of Tesla’s Key Investors

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a ceremony in Dubai on February 13, 2017. (KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty ... [+] Images) Fresh off Tesla becoming the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization this week (at least for a day or so), the company’s restless CEO Elon Musk is firming up plans to electrify the truck market. Taking to Twitter, his preferred form of communication, Musk said that Tesla will show off a concept version of a semi truck in September. On top of that, a Tesla pickup is also in the works and will be unveiled “in 18 to 24 months,” he said. Both projects have been discussed in the past , though little information on them has come out recently. “Team has done an amazing job,” with regard to its concept for the Tesla Semi, Musk tweeted. “Seriously next level.” No doubt he and other Tesla executives will have more to say on the topic on May 3, when the company is to release … [Read more...] about If You Think The World Needs Tesla Semis And Pickups, Elon Musk Has Good News

Tesla stock was one of the outsiders last year. The drop in the value of Elon Musk’s company came in waves, but it rarely stopped. The company’s capitalization collapsed by a whopping 75% during this time — so what’s the reason? First, it should be noted that Tesla shares were an outright bubble. Quotes were inflated back when money was cheap — the Fed’s rate was near zero, and the printing press was running. They put literally everything into the price — that all cars would be electric for the foreseeable future; that Tesla would dominate the market, that profits would be exorbitant, and so on. And, of course, it was not without the so-called hype, which paved the way to the heights. At the same time, it was clear to any sensible investor that the company which for a long time did not even show profit, simply could not be worth so much, especially in comparison with other representatives of the auto industry, such as GM, Ford and others. If you want to … [Read more...] about Why Investors have Fallen Out Of Love With Tesla