Elon Musk insists Tesla isn’t a car company as sales falter

If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation. That's advice Don Draper of "Mad Men" once gave. And it appears Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is taking it. (via finance.yahoo)

By the numbers, Tesla painted a dismal picture through its latest quarterly results. But the stock told a different story: excitement. New models are on the way, Musk said. And beyond that, Tesla will prosper as a pioneer in autonomous ridesharing. Shares jumped following the earnings release, and the momentum carried over into morning trading Wednesday as the stock surged as much as 14%.

As Tesla car sales faltered, Musk delivered an optimistic pivot: Tesla isn't a car company.Sales fell 9% from a year ago in the most recent quarter, the first drop in four years. Operating profit tumbled more than 50% from the same period last year. Guidance, too, was a drag, as executives foresee "notably lower volume."

But the market loved Tesla reassuring the world that, actually, cheaper cars are coming. As Jefferies analysts said in a note after the report, "first impression for us is CEO Musk appeasing the market by accelerating new product launches."

And Musk emphasized over and over again on the earnings call that investors shouldn't view Tesla as an automaker but rather as a digital platform akin to Uber (UBER) and Airbnb (ABNB) for an autonomous fleet.

Comments

Tesla Cybertruck turns into world's most expensive brick after car wash

Bulletproof? Is it waterproof? Ts&Cs say: 'Failure to put Cybertruck in Car Wash Mode may result in damage' (via theregister ) The perils of turning cars into computers were laid bare by a hapless Cybertruck owner who claimed his ride was rendered an $80,000 "paperweight" by something as benign as a wash. Now, we tech-savvy people are well aware that computers and water do not mix. But cars get dirty, and when you've tossed your life savings into a Cybertruck, you'd probably want to keep it looking immaculate. At the same time, we'd hesitate to hose off our motherboard even if the cat hair level was approaching critical mass. But when your car is a computer, what are your options? As noted by motoring zine Jalopnik , a TikTok user going by @captian.ad regaled his followers with a tale of how he took his Cybertruck to the beach with his dogs. What sounds like a lovely day out soon turned to sorrow, however, as on the way back he stoppe...

Truth Social lost $58 million last year. It's already clear who made the money.

Last year, a report from fast food magazine QSR found that former President Donald Trump's social media accounts generated $4 billion in revenue last year; that's about as many as McDonald's franchises in the United States. (via washingtonpost ) But that didn't stop the Media and Technology Group, which runs Social Reality, from giving Trump billions of dollars in stock or paying its executives millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses and stock, according to a filing with the Commission. Exchange. Media, headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, has just 36 employees and lost $58 million last year, the company said. Internet analytics firm ZirveWeb reports that actual traffic is less than 1 percent of Reddit, which generated $800 million in revenue last year.But the stock market's complacency pushed Trump Media's value to about $5.5 billion; That's more than the market cap of Macy's, Columbia Sportswear and Alaska Airlines, which all have billions of dollars...

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments As Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. (via macrumors ) Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a result, Apple is expected to take a "conservative view" of headset demand when the Vision Pro launches in additional countries. Kuo previously said that Apple will introduce the Vision Pro in new markets before the June Worldwide Developers Conference, which suggests that we could see it available in additional areas in the next month or so. Apple is expecting Vision Pro shipments to decline year-over-year in 2025 compared to 2024, and the company is said to be "reviewing and adjusting" its headset product roadmap. Kuo does not believe there will be a new...

The Pulse

Search This Blog