Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#181

Post by mcguire » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

xkjkls wrote: post #135

historylurker wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMO because so much of the public is interested in the company What do you mean by "so much of the public"? Outside of tech circles, Tesla isn't as well known as you imagine. Why do we need to hear about all of their ideas and potential on the conference call? I can read Twitter, Electek, Teslarati, Reddit or others for that.

It is the most popular Retail investor stock, so it's not just tech folks.

"It is the most popular Retail investor stock..."

Source?

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#182

Post by Silhouette » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #58

danso wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er, why is asking for something fundamental to running a business (i.e. "How much money do you have/need?") a partly boring/boneheaded/uncool question?

Been running it fine for 10 years. Does sound boring.

I'm not sure it's "fine" if you're posting record losses, still more than 50% under capacity to make a profit later in the year, and dealing with recent manufacturing problems so serious that you literally had to close the production lines down.

As I write this, TSLA is down about 6% on the day, and it's not as if sharp drops or a general downward trend are unusual over the past year. They're in real trouble, and this doesn't seem like a good time for Musk to let his ego out of its box.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#183

Post by matwood » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #136

nodesocket wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree about it being embarrassing and cringey. I appreciate his no-bs and no-fluff candor. Elon called out the press for writing misleading articles to generate clicks. He went as far as calling it irresponsible and dangerous. He also called out day-traders, saying of you can't handle volatility then sell your stock. "I am not here to convince you to buy Tesla stock." You can listen to the call at https://edge.med…

Yeah I agree with you nodesocket. Musk comes off as focusing on the right things, not getting bogged down by a x% difference on capital outlay here or there.

> not getting bogged down by a x% difference on capital outlay here or there.

People would not be after him so much if he hadn't missed almost every prediction he's made. The company is quickly approaching a cliff that the Musk cheerleaders cannot simply cheer him across. Timelines really start to matter when your runway is running out.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#184

Post by garmaine » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

kc10 wrote: post #122

I have been investing a portion of my paycheck every month for the last three years and never sold TSLA. It's bothering me to see so many high profile departures particularly in finance/accounting groups. And yesterday's conference call was a disaster, I see it as dodging valid questions related to current state of the company and answering open ended interesting questions like "When will Tesla launch its own network…

Serious question: why do you pick stocks?

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#185

Post by Animats » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

The strange thing is, Tesla finally seems to be getting decent production rates on their Model 3 line.[1] They got 2500 cars out the door in a week at peak, which is respectable. Until recently, output was so low that it was clear the line wasn't working right. They then shut down to retune their production line, which makes sense. They should soon be cranking about 2500-3000 cars a week without much fuss. Once first shift is running smoothly, they can add a second shift.

Tesla may be over the hump on getting the business working. But profitability is still a ways off. Tesla may need more capital to get there.

What Tesla doesn't need now are distractions. The truck, the new roadster, the next model, self-driving. They need to focus on shipping product before the money runs out.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-tesla-tracker/

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#186

Post by unclebucknasty » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

I was reading all of the thoughtful critiques of Elon's behavior when something occurred to me: there is an awful lot of brain power here that is spending an awful lot of time analyzing the decisions and words of one man.

It's actually odd when you think about it: we do a lot of observing and commenting these days (myself included) and I wonder how much more productive we would be individually and as a society if more of our energy was invested in creation and building.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#187

Post by Alupis » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

s2g wrote: post #95

thaumaturgy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not defending Elon's behavior here, but speaking more generally: if you're in a place where you need to maintain maximum productivity for a while, because a deadline has slipped for example, meetings can turn into a massive time sink if you don't act like a total nazi during them. In so many meetings, people just want to hear themselves talk, whether to offer some opinion, reiterate some point, or ask some useles…

He spent 20 minutes answering softball questions from a youtuber instead.

> He spent 20 minutes answering softball questions from a youtuber instead.

Not just softballs... questions that have nothing to do with Tesla today or the near future... rather... questions about Elon's whimsical dreams of the far future and how Tesla might possibly play into that.

Questions about fully autonomous electric vehicle taxi fleets, etc... but he skipped all the questions about how he's going to get Tesla there or how to survive long enough to see that future.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#188

Post by lev99 » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

tensor wrote: post #31

olivermarks wrote: post #20

Musk sounded exhausted. If Smith & Wesson launched a consumer flamethrower there would be outrage...Musk has been able to distract with lots of shiny objects but the clock is ticking, even amongst his niche fan base...I hope all the people who are working so hard in Musk's various companies come out of this ok...

For the sake of society, I hope Musk succeeds. We've spent too much time as a culture celebrating fairly useless achievements and being unwilling to dare to do the things that will truly take us forward.

> We've spent too much time as a culture celebrating fairly useless achievements and being unwilling to dare to do the things that will truly take us forward.

Are you kidding? Society had progressed more in the last 10 years than it has in the previous 20, with all indications the next 10 will see even more progress. We are making real progress, even excluding the great work Musk is doing in Solar/EV/Space/Boring/Hyperloop.

* We are very near peak carbon output, with the majority of the developed world very concerned.

* The United States voted for an African American president (slightly more than 10 years ago) and a female presidential candidate won the popular vote, a milestone for equality.

* Almost 50% of the world's population is connected to the internet, and can communicate directly and instantly.

* The internet moved from on our desks/laps to in our pockets and on our wrists.

* We've made major advancements in medical science, from cardiology to genetics.

* Huge social changes, from winding down the drug war to marriage equality

* Super computers have roughly the same processing speed as the human brain

* VR/AR is entering mainstream.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#189

Post by wpietri » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #136

nodesocket wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree about it being embarrassing and cringey. I appreciate his no-bs and no-fluff candor. Elon called out the press for writing misleading articles to generate clicks. He went as far as calling it irresponsible and dangerous. He also called out day-traders, saying of you can't handle volatility then sell your stock. "I am not here to convince you to buy Tesla stock." You can listen to the call at https://edge.med…

Yeah I agree with you nodesocket. Musk comes off as focusing on the right things, not getting bogged down by a x% difference on capital outlay here or there.

That's not "bogged down" to a professional investor. Which is who these conference calls are for.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#190

Post by Zhenya » Thu, May 03, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

What a weird call. Especially the callout of the diamler CEO.

Elon says that the diamler CEO does not understand physics "He doesn't know much about physics. I know him. I'd be happy to engage in a physics discussion with him. I actually studied physics in college."

Wiki says otherwise:

"... studied electrical engineering from 1971 to 1976 at the University of Karlsruhe; he graduated as an engineer. He completed his doctorate in engineering in 1982 at the University of Paderborn."

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Zetsche