Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[H Mak]

If the S&P wants Tesla to issue more shares I hope Elon tells them to take a hike. They will have to include TSLA eventually unless they want to change what the S&P500 represents and everyone knows it.

Q3 will be profitable, likely highly profitable, and Q4 is likely to be still stronger than Q3.

What choice do they have really? Just pretend Tesla doesn't exist?

Exactly!

 

[Mo City]

Tesla will never do dividends. If it shocks me and it does, I am outta here.

Stockpiling cash is very different. First off I think TSLA should try to stockpile a certain percentage of its market cap in the long term view as a matter of insuring survival. I think five percent is a reasonable number. Obviously a general number to aim for, not a hard rule.

If not for cash piles, Apple would be a footnote of history.

Second of all, I do not expect Tesla to blow cash on bad return investments simply because it has a lot of cash. If you cannot put the cash to work well, then hold it until you are sure that you can. If Tesla turns into the cash producing machine we believe it will, do not be surprised to discover huge piles of cash on the balance sheet in the future as they determine how to deploy it.

Five percent of market cap sounds reasonable for cash.

Second of all, I do not expect Tesla to blow cash on bad return investments simply because it has a lot of cash

No idea why you bothered to say this. Nobody here believes Elon would do that. Creating straw men does not help prove your point. I think you underestimate his creativity and how unique Tesla is as a company. He'll find a way to put excess cash to work furthering the mission.

 

[willow_hiller]

Is Elon getting embroiled in political tweets too much? He is so lofty sometimes that his tweets can be mis-interpreted. Referring to his coup tweet. Hoping his Twitter account was hacked, to be honest

Woke up this morning. Immediately cringed at what Elon was tweeting last night.

The coup tweet will only be taken seriously by conspiracy theorists, but it's hard not to interpret "Pronouns suck" as a coded message against transgender people. Even Grimes replied begging him to turn off his phone (now deleted).

https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1286876580581695489?s=09

 

[traxila]

Five percent of market cap sounds reasonable for cash.

Second of all, I do not expect Tesla to blow cash on bad return investments simply because it has a lot of cash

No idea why you bothered to say this. Nobody here believes Elon would do that. Creating straw men does not help prove your point. I think you underestimate his creativity and how unique Tesla is as a company. He'll find a way to put excess cash to work furthering the mission.

We agree. Not sure how you decided to apply the conclusions above to my statement.

If Tesla is as successful as we believe, a large cash pile may be inevitable. There are multiple time consuming constraints involved when attempting to efficiently deploy billions on a regular basis. No doubt, right now it is not an issue. My bet is that there is a high likelihood of it becoming one.

 

[oldTAVguy]

"That's the Sound of Inevitability, Mr. Anderson".

Quick book review: How to capture mindshare so you can grow market share | bizjournals.com › how-to › marketing › 2014/10

"Tesla is inevitability"

 

[oldTAVguy]

I am not saying 50 CAGR is the wrong strategy. There are pros and cons to the strategy.

What I am disagreeing about is that Tesla/Elon are beyond criticism.

If you have to have direct or comparable experience to able to criticize then discussion of any topic would be limited to a tiny circle of professionals on any given topic.

But, lack of comparable or related experience should be used to weigh that criticism in the discussion.

 

[Steve m]

Woke up this morning. Immediately cringed at what Elon was tweeting last night.

The coup tweet will only be taken seriously by conspiracy theorists, but it's hard not to interpret "Pronouns suck" as a coded message against transgender people. Even Grimes replied begging him to turn off his phone (now deleted).

https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1286876580581695489?s=09

Tom and Dave went to the grocery store because he was hungry.

Pronouns are good for fiction not for technical communication.

 

[Intl Professor]

That's not going to capture more mindshare. We can do better. Who doesn't remember these catch phrases from Politics, Sports, the Movies, and Advertising over the years?

• 1940s: "Who’s on First?"
• 1950s: "I Like Ike"
• 1960s: "We Choose to Go to the Moon", "Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee"
• 1970s: "Houston, We Have a Problem", "May the Force be with you"
• 1980s: "I'll Be Back", "I Feel the Need, the Need for SPEED!"
• 1990s: "To Infinity and Beyond!", "Show me the money!"
• 2000s: "My Precious"

The art of creating these slogans is big business. Here's some pointers for success:

Guidelines to Create Great Slogans

1. Identification. A good slogan must stay consistent with the brand name either obviously stated or strongly implied. It’s better to include the name of your business to it.
2. Memorable. Some of the best taglines or slogans are still being used today, even though they were launched several years ago.
3. Beneficial. Reveal your purpose and benefits of the product by conveying the message in consumer language. Turn bad into good. Suggest the risk of not using the product. Create a positive feeling for the consumers.
4. Differentiation. In an overcrowded market, companies on the same industry need to set themselves apart thru their creative and original tagline or slogan.
5. Keep it simple. Use proven words and short keywords. One word is usually not enough.

How about this: It's not just a car, it's a Tesla? (Let it become generic for EV.)

 

[Steve m]

How about this: It's not just a car, it's a Tesla? (Let it become generic for EV.)

If it's not a Tesla it's not EV

 

[pz1975]

If it's not a Tesla it's not EV

If it’s not a Tesla, you’re a moran.

 

[Andy O]

Tesla will never do dividends. If it shocks me and it does, I am outta here.

If Tesla never does dividends, then stockholders will ultimately never get any return on their investments. It would be a pyramid scheme in which stockholders hope to sell at higher and higher prices, with later buyers having to hope the pyramid continues to grow. At some point, years from now, Tesla has to find a way to return profits to shareholders or the whole structure will be at risk of collapse.

 

[GOVA]

Weekend OT

What's up with this dude filling up the Model 3 with gasoline.

 

[JusRelax]

If it’s not a Tesla, you’re a moran.

Here's one for 5 years from now:

If it's not a Tesla, it has a steering wheel.

 

[willow_hiller]

Tom and Dave went to the grocery store because he was hungry.

Pronouns are good for fiction not for technical communication.

I don't disagree with your interpretation; it could even be taken as pro-transgender (do away with pronouns altogether).

But to tweet it without context or clarification is an open invitation for drama.

He's a smart man. He knows how his words will be interpreted.

 

[oldTAVguy]

If Tesla never does dividends, then stockholders will ultimately never get any return on their investments. It would be a pyramid scheme in which stockholders hope to sell at higher and higher prices, with later buyers having to hope the pyramid continues to grow. At some point, years from now, Tesla has to find a way to return profits to shareholders or the whole structure will be at risk of collapse.

Returning profits, will most likely be done when slower growth and higher margin parts of the company can be spun off. And these entities provide the cash returns to the shareholders. I can see automobiles being spun off in 10 years when it would be impossible to grow at a 50% CAGR, but it is generating massive profits and cash. Imagine 20 years from now when your Tesla ownership has grown into 10 companies each with 10x the value of Tesla at this time (that is wild eyed expectation).

 

[AlMc]

Tesla, the ultimate driving machine

 

[UkNorthampton]

It wasn’t Lutz. It was a Volkswagen story.

Thanks for correction, I couldn't remember.

As far as I know, Elon does/has spend time on the lines, so I'm surprised quality is still in question. He has probably made a judgement call and I'm not in a position to argue against him.

 

[traxila]

If Tesla never does dividends, then stockholders will ultimately never get any return on their investments. It would be a pyramid scheme in which stockholders hope to sell at higher and higher prices, with later buyers having to hope the pyramid continues to grow. At some point, years from now, Tesla has to find a way to return profits to shareholders or the whole structure will be at risk of collapse.

So never is a long time.

For Tesla to pay dividends before its mission is accomplished would compromise its mission. I guess at some point it will. At that point I will probably be dead. If not, I will be out of here.

Never is a slight exaggeration on my part, yet effectively true for me.

The pyramid scheme you describe is the time honored core tenet of all stock markets, lofty statements aside.

 

[Steve m]

I don't disagree with your interpretation; it could even be taken as pro-transgender (do away with pronouns altogether).

But to tweet it without context or clarification is an open invitation for drama.

He's a smart man. He knows how his words will be interpreted.

Imagine one of them preferred to have a sex neutral pronoun used for them.

Tom and Dave went to the store because they was hungry. Or would they prefer to be identified as it? No way to know. Pronouns create ambiguous communication.

Now maybe the smart man wanted to start a conversation and not dictate the results.

 

[davecolene0606]

Elon Musk = George Westinghouse

Fire Away!
(It’s STILL the batteries, Stupid!j - Elon just said it.