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

[InTheMiddle]

Is it a possibility the American stock market will be depressed on Monday because some investors will be selling stocks to pay tax bills? April 15th would be pretty much the last time to do that

Unlikely. There is a 3-day settlement period after the sale; during this 'settlement period', the proceeds from the sale would generally be shown as 'Available to trade' but *not* 'Available to withdraw'. Selling last Thursday would likely have been the last day. <Assuming the tax payer is paying online electronically via EFT, not mailing a paper check and assuming the paper check won't be received / clear their account until several days from now, of course.>

 

[MartinAustin]

<Assuming the tax payer is paying online electronically via EFT>

If that assumption is correct... sure.

Investors who have waited until the last moment will coordinate the mailing of a postmarked check with the sale of stock. The IRS takes several days to cash checks

 

[Tony73]

You know guys, I evaluated a lot of technology for quite a while professionally and one thing I learned was to always mentally preface naysayers remarks with "I can’t imagine how that would work" for whatever their reasons or however they define their use cases.

Recall all the comments about how Starlink wouldn’t work in Tesla cars? Now you’ll see pictures of functioning terminals on CT dashboards. Sure, there are limitations but some mobile use cases work already.

Seriously, use your imaginations—I’m not going to do it for you here.

No one remotely knowledgeable about satellite communications would think that starlink would have a problem working in cars. Satellite terminals work on aircraft. GM cars have had onstar for decades.
Starlink is the densest satellite network ever built. It can keep up a high speed link in the most challenging urban environments.

No amount of imagination will make today’s cybertruck a military vehicle. It would be a death trap. The military is not salivating at the thought of the cybertruck. That’s not how the military works.

 

[EQC_]

No one remotely knowledgeable about satellite communications would think that starlink would have a problem working in cars. Satellite terminals work on aircraft. GM cars have had onstar for decades.
Starlink is the densest satellite network ever built. It can keep up a high speed link in the most challenging urban environments.

No amount of imagination will make today’s cybertruck a military vehicle. It would be a death trap. The military is not salivating at the thought of the cybertruck. That’s not how the military works.

I don't personally think that the US military is currently craving the Cybertruck...

But a lot of the criticism here seems to assume that a "military vehicle" must be ready for an active battlefield.

The military needs many vehicles transporting humans and supplies in many areas far from active battle.

And, any vehicle can of course have armor added to it.

Relatively stock Jeeps were used in the military for various purposes...sometimes with the doors and/or roofs removed. Armor isn't needed for every military use.

Even a quick Google search on the bullet proof qualities of the original Hummer/HMMWV/Humvee (clearly designed and used for various military purposes) lead me to:

"A standard Humvee will not stop any kind of projectile. It is no different in that respect to a civilian SUV. An up-armored Humvee can stop essentially all pistol rounds, and most common rifle rounds..."

 

[Quesder]

I am surprised that there is no much discussion on the layoff rumors in their forum. A post in one of the previous pages, and a reply simply dismissed it as a rumor.

Tesla (TSLA) is rumored to be preparing a massive round of layoffs

Tesla announced to Gigafactory Texas employees that it will shorten Cybertruck production shift amid rumors that it is preparing a...

electrek.co

it doesn't sound right, because CT is currently the only model that TESLA has a "production problem". Why would TESLA reduce the time of a shift?
One explanation is that the accelerator has some problems and the existing produced vehicles all need a fix.
But that shouldn't link to a layoff.

However, the rumor has spread widely all over the market now, and we will face something tomorrow for sure. UP? DOWN? What do you think?
If down, time to load more?

 

[aubreymcfato]

In these years, I've often discussed with a friend of mine, a "petrol-head", who drives a Taxi for a living (in Italy).
Of course, his demands for a car are quite high, and he always had a lot of things to say against Tesla cars. Not a fanboy, to say the least.

Today, in a Facebook discussion in my page, he posted this (sorry but it's google translate):

«Model Y sells because Tesla has finally made a credible car, which summarizes the characteristics suitable for the market. It's not the best performing in their lineup, the most iconic or the most efficient, but it's a balanced mix of everything needed: it's not huge, it has excellent interior space, excellent trunks, a tailgate.
Aesthetically it vaguely reminds me of the beetle, it's ungracefully nice, it's not mean like the 3, it's not exaggerated like the S, it's not atrocious like the X. Mechanically refined, it has the best EV powertrain on the market, and Tesla is the top in that sector. You buy something without compromises, at prices even much lower than the competition. Furthermore, and I say this as a mad detractor, it is now close in cost to even the most direct competitors (I have always seen the comparisons with premium brands badly, I think it is at least one step below but also two, in any case, here you are below 50k, sometimes even by a lot, and in my opinion the Y is the benchmark for EVs today): some medium-sized cars do better in terms of fittings and finishes, but this one eats them up in every respect. It does enough kms, has the best performance and efficiency on the market, the best management system, the best charging network, and a capillary buying and selling system. Tesla website makes you want to buy them, you see everything, prompt delivery, used, with price, work done, where they are, all over the country. If you open any other automotive sites, they are walking bugs, they refer to hundreds of dealers, on whom you depend for everything.
Then, the Y enters the most dynamic market segment, the C-SUV segment, and its traditional rivals flounder in a regulatory frenzy that certainly benefits those who smell of the future. It is true that it requires accustomisation, a change in habits, and that in certain areas it is still a gamble, but it is a credible car, indeed, I believe that today it is the benchmark for everyone».

I year ago I posted this comment from a taxi-driver, car-guy friend of mine. In the meantime, he helped sell a few Ys to his colleagues, while not getting one for himself.
For a taxi-driver, he's pretty unworried about range ("EVs are good now, and Teslas are the best, and there are superchargers").
At the moment, he says candidly to me that he needs to find "reasons" NOT to buy a Y over a cheaper gas car, but the main one is that Teslas are too nice.

Doing the night shift, he needs a super solid, super basic car that just works, has enough cargo space and it's easy to clean.
He'd love the new 3 but the fancy screens on the backseat are a non starter for him ("people would break them in the first week").
I explained to him the fact that the "fanciness" is a feature and not a bug, and this is the exact reason why Tesla is the only big manufacturer that profits from his sales... With all his car knowledge, he didn't think about that angle: people are so used in thinking OEMs are so rich entities that they cannot fathom the disruption EVs pose for them...

We'll see what happens with the EV incentives in a few weeks.

 

[MC3OZ]

Tesla tells Cybertruck employees that shifts will be shorter at the Austin Gigafactory

An internal memo, obtained by Business Insider, describes new times for some production line shifts at the Austin gigafactory.

news.yahoo.com

Tesla told employees who work on the Cybertruck that shifts will be shorter on the production line at the Austin Gigafactory, according to an internal messaged viewed by Business Insider.

Previously, workers clocked 12 hour shifts from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.. They will now be working 11 hour shifts during the day and 10.5 hour shifts at night — from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. — the memo said.

I do have some possible explanations for this.

1. Cybertrucks are stacking up over that the westside end of line facility, there is some end-of-line / logistics bottleneck that I don't understand.

2. Cybertruck production may be running ahead of the 4680 production ramp, and may be more than 1,000 per week

3. Some other constraint on available parts.

Since the estimated delivery date for new orders is 2025, demand is IMO less likely that the possible explanations above.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Interesting, the reduction in 3 sales in the US (minus 24k vehicles YoY) explains over half of the reduction in Q1 YoY deliveries.
View attachment 1038452

And on the 15th of February 2024 drive Tesla Canada reported that the EPA issued a sales pause order on Tesla Model S and Model Y Performance due to an issue with EPA range ratings. Sales were not allowed to continue until march. Obviously, some sales slid into Q2 and some sales were lost as customers canceled orders.

 

[Quesder]

According to China Phoenix Network, the layoff is officially announced by Elon Musk:

Musk sends email to all employees: Tesla lays off 10% of global employees​

鳳凰網科技· 14 mins ago

Tesla (TSLA.US)
171.050171.610
-2.03%
+0.33%

Source: Phoenix News Technology
On April 15, Musk just sent an email to all employees. According to Phoenix News Technology, Tesla has cut 10% of its global workforce.
In February of this year, Tesla postponed performance reviews for some employees, and rumors about Tesla's layoffs began to appear. Previously, Tesla had to lay off employees due to inefficiency due to aggressive personnel expansion. In recent years, its recruitment rate has slowed. In 2022, Tesla added 29,000 new employees, while in 2023 this number has dropped to 12,000.

 

[Artful Dodger]

If you have read my story on the previous page and think it is just about mathematics, please read again.

Haha, 'Runge-Kutta': suddenly it's 1990 and I'm doing exterior ballistics calculations on an HP-41 handheld. Who knew there was a one-step partial differential equations method to solve trajectories? Certainly not any of the PHD / math professors at the school I went to. But DND knew. Oh, wasted youth ...

 

[mgs333]

Some Tesla employees on blind (the app for tech employees to discuss work stuff) reporting they're locked out of their laptops and getting calls from their managers. They also confirm the email from Elon.

 

[NicoV]

Some Tesla employees on blind (the app for tech employees to discuss work stuff) reporting they're locked out of their laptops and getting calls from their managers. They also confirm the email from Elon.

So the stock should go up, isn’t it? Wall Street likes layoffs.

 

[Ellec]

Some Tesla employees on blind (the app for tech employees to discuss work stuff) reporting they're locked out of their laptops and getting calls from their managers. They also confirm the email from Elon.

Looking forward to the Conference call, to hear the explanations.

 

[Blue horseshoe]

So the stock should go up, isn’t it? Wall Street likes layoffs.

This was posted last year regarding June 2022 cuts

Unless you're Tesla of course. Don't you remember 3rd of June last year when all the FUD amplified reporting came out that Tesla would cut 10% of its workforce (actually only salaried, not production). That day the TSLA share price fell 9%.

 

[Quesder]

So the stock should go up, isn’t it? Wall Street likes layoffs.

too bad , pre market was up but now is down 1.12

 

[Artful Dodger]

2-Day clearance means that any of those sales had to occur by the close on Thursday last week, not today. Sell today, and you can have your money on Wednesday.

 

[Artful Dodger]

There is a 3-day settlement period after the sale;

3-day settlement is for options, stock sales have two day settlement.

 

[CitizenKane]

Looking forward to the Conference call, to hear the explanations.

As long as it isn't another rant about macro. I want focus to be on things Tesla CAN control and what the plan is.

 

[Artful Dodger]

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on CNBC 2 days ago called a Tesla an "autonomobile". Reverend Spooner would have been proud, understood implicitly.

 

[jschwefel]

Email from Elon:

Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe. With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas. As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.

As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.

I would like to thank everyone who is departing Tesla for their hard work over the years. I’m deeply grateful for your many contributions to our mission and we wish you well in your future opportunities. It is very difficult to say goodbye.

For those remaining, I would like to thank you in advance for the difficult job that remains ahead. We are developing some of the most revolutionary technologies in auto, energy and artificial intelligence. As we prepare the company for the next phase of growth, your resolve will make a huge difference in getting us there.

Thanks,
Elon