Tesla’s Profit Fell 55%, Adding to Concerns About Its Strategy

[Anonymous]

Tesla continues to go down as EV and hybrid market competition heats up. And Jeff Bezos just passed Elon Musk to regain his spot as world's richest person (despite losing 1/3 of his fortune to Mackenzie in the divorce).

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/business/tesla-earnings-first-quarter-elon-musk.htm
Tesla reported on Tuesday that it made significantly less money in the first three months of the year because of its tepid car sales, reinforcing concern among investors that the company led by Elon Musk is losing ground in the market for electric vehicles.

Profit fell 55 percent, to $1.1 billion, from the first quarter of 2023, the company said. And revenue fell 9 percent, to $21.3 billion.

[Anonymous]

There's so much competition coming in EVs, especially from China. Tesla is in for a tough ride.

[Anonymous]

And Musk is just rich, not smart. That eventually catches up.

[Anonymous]

Also Musk’s politics are causing his reliable customer base in blue states to go elsewhere. It would be better for business if he were quieter.

[Anonymous]

They are going to have a lot of trouble competing with the Chinese internationally. BYD is already destroying them in China and starting to gain ground in Europe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are going to have a lot of trouble competing with the Chinese internationally. BYD is already destroying them in China and starting to gain ground in Europe

They're super cheap compared to Tesla. Elon Musk went to ask for trade barriers against them, but funny how he wants Tesla to be protected as an American industry while Tesla pays 0$ in federal income tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also Musk’s politics are causing his reliable customer base in blue states to go elsewhere. It would be better for business if he were quieter.

They’re doomed. I’m exactly the kind of basic betch who buys cars in America. I’ll never buy a Tesla, not because I’m making some political statement but because I don’t want my car to make me think about Elon Musk, because he’s icky and annoying.

He’s like if you designed the worst possible version of the Geico Gecko or Flo from Progressive and then somehow through free earned media got exactly the same level of penetration into my brain.

[Anonymous]

We drive cars that are 20 and 13 years old. Waiting for prices to settle down, hopefully return to the good old days where buyers had some leverage before I replace the oldest car. Guess what, it won't be an EV. Maybe a hybrid if the deal makes sense but I have no problems driving gas cars for the next 40 years. The price and charging networks all need to make sense. When i test drove a Tesla pre-pandemic I thought the interiors were kinda crappy. No way I am paying for that!

Made some good moolah on Tesla options in '20 and '21. Currently holding about 300 shares that are underwater.

[Anonymous]

^^ pp again.. As to founders' politics, I assume all business owners, especially the mega businesses, are Republicans and only care about their wealth. They don't give a rat's a** about the poor, democracy and all the other stuff most people here want. They just keep their mouth shut for the most part.

It is pointless injecting politics into what should be a financial decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's so much competition coming in EVs, especially from China. Tesla is in for a tough ride.

Yup- now that they don't have a huge head start on the major car companies, their lack of scale/infrastructure and institutional know how in producing and maintaining cars will cause the average person to go to the major car companies over time.

[Anonymous]

Just got a plug in hybrid and it just really makes more sense for us at this point. 95+% of our usage is all electric due to its range and our daily life, but having the gas engine option for longer trips is valuable to us. I also feel like it will train us to learn how to use charging stations on road trips with a bit of a safety net so maybe we'll feel more ready for a fully electric car for our next purchase. I tend to assess cars logically, but Musk's persona does give me a negative feel. I could probably get past that if Tesla was clearly superior, but all things being equal I'd skip Tesla over another brand. I'd guess there's a sizeable portion of at least the North American market that feels the same.

[Anonymous]

Tesla is up 12% this morning. I wouldn't count Tesla out by a long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tesla is up 12% this morning. I wouldn't count Tesla out by a long shot.

Honey, if you're making that judgment based on one morning of stock market activity, there's a bridge I'd like to sell you.

[Anonymous]

He has killed the brand. At that was all they had - otherwise it is just sloppily-built overpriced cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tesla is up 12% this morning. I wouldn't count Tesla out by a long shot.

Eh, 3 quarters of missed earnings and a 2 year price history that is down 50%. I'm not counting it out, but I'm not counting on it. Glad I sold the majority of my position when I did. Just hanging on to a couple shares in case.