Photo: USA Today
Billionaire Elon Musk said six months previously that he would cease to attend conference calls with investors except if there was “something important” he needed to convey. Well, he should’ve retained his idea.
Last Wednesday, the business magnate came back to a conference call to talk about the record earnings and revenue of the fourth quarter, following his disappearance from the third quarter’s call. Even with Tesla’s soaring financial standing, however, investors were bugged about his statements on the conference call this week.
On Thursday, Tesla’s stocks had reached their worst time in months, dropping to 11.6% and dragging the additional EV shares down with it.
Musk centered his statements on supply chain issues that had injured Tesla considerably lesser than other auto manufacturers. Even though Musk stated that Tesla was on the track to be “comfortably above 50% growth in 2022” and that the scarcity of chip is “better than last year,” he heeded the supply chain challenge is “still an issue that could slow the rollout of new vehicles that had been expected as soon as this year.”
He stated that arrangements for Tesla’s first pickup, the Cybertruck, would have to be delayed to 2023, together with a new Roadster and a semi truck. He added that he looks forward to Tesla being “ready to bring those to production hopefully next year. That is most likely.”
However, those comments weren’t what the investors wanted to hear. The EV competition is getting tighter as the days pass. Rivian, an emerging truck manufacturer, is on the move to developing and marketing its electric pickup, which recently received recognition as Motor Trend Truck of the Year.
In the spring, Ford is going further to begin building its F-150 Lightning EV and aims to make 80,000 trucks a year to meet growing pre-orders. This week, General Motors revealed that it would begin developing an EV variation of its Silverado and Sierra pickups in 2024.
Many Wall Street analysts were vexed by Musk’s statements on the call.
Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives said, “There was no reason that he needed to double down and shout ‘supply chain’ into a crowded theater.”
“He gave the bears meat on the bones. That’s why the stock sold off. I’m convinced if Musk was not on the call, the stock probably would have been up on Thursday,” he added.
Not one statement from Musk dealt with the issue at hand—the affairs happening at other EV manufacturers.
