301–310 of 334 posts
Ah, convertible bonds. On the trading floor, a converts-trading colleague had a Post-It note on his monitor: "Interest rates up: converts down Interest rates down: converts down Volatility up: converts down Volatility down: converts down Apple strudels up: converts down et cetera " Converts are complicated. For one, nobody is fighting for you post-issuance. You don't (yet) hold stock, so the Board doesn't think you'r…
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Hmm that is true. It's probably been said before, but the Model X definitely made things a lot more difficult to get to a rollout of the model 3. "I'm not sure anyone should have made this car," he said at a press conference just hours before the first Model Xs were delivered to VIP customers." ""We probably should have just [modified the Model S]," he added. "There are so many more features and difficult to build pa…
> "We probably should have just [modified the Model S]" This is one thing I really don't get about Tesla. Why haven't they made an estate-ish version of the Model S? I'm thinking along the lines of the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake: http://images.car.bauercdn.com/upload/28771/images/1752x1168... It's a very nice looking car, and adds that little bit of luggage practicality that the Model S is missing. The aerodynamics…
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Sort of, but not really...the FASB has said you can treat the underlying shares as non-dilutive if the stock price isn't above the conversion price (this is called "net share settlement"). So basically, while outstanding, the debt acts like debt for accounting purposes until the stock price is above the conversion price. When it goes above the conversion price, the you treat those incremental shares as dilutive. Addi…
>Pretty sweet deal if your stock price doesn't go up and you only have to pay minimal interest. So Tesla is shorting TSLA?
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> Many states completely hamstring the ability to sell EV cars directly and some states are downright hostile towards Tesla. This has nothing to do with EVs, it has to do with Tesla wanting to sell cars differently than anyone else sells cars. If Tesla wanted to do a dealer model they could certainly give it a go and be treated no differently than any other auto maker.
Their argument is that dealerships have no actual incentive to sell EV vehicles over other ICE vehicles given that franchises make most of their profit from servicing; as such this exposes quite a bit of unnecessary risk for Tesla or any EV maker for that matter. This is the primary argument in lobbying efforts that there should be an exception for EV vehicles in this case of similar laws. "Tesla General Counsel Todd…
It is true that a Tesla dealership won't be able to charge for oil changes, but tires, suspension, interior fixes (e.g. power windows or that strange squeak) are still required.
It is an easy fix:. Don't charge much for the franchise given the alleged lower service volumes. How many would show up at a Tesla dealership and then be convinced to buy an ICE car? If possible, write the franchise agreement to prohibit colocation with other ICE brands.
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Sort of, but not really...the FASB has said you can treat the underlying shares as non-dilutive if the stock price isn't above the conversion price (this is called "net share settlement"). So basically, while outstanding, the debt acts like debt for accounting purposes until the stock price is above the conversion price. When it goes above the conversion price, the you treat those incremental shares as dilutive. Addi…
looks like you've done time on a coverts desk ;)
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chevy has 105 years of experience at manufacturing automobiles and huge volume with suppliers. there's no way tesla has anything close to their unit economics
On the other hand, Tesla is a retailer whereas GM is effectively a wholesaler. Perhaps the dealer margins are significant?
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> It assumes Government subsidies for solar, which may be going away for political reasons. Residential solar costs average out at 15c per kWh, post 30% tax credit. If the credit goes away, the 20c per kWh generation cost is still competitive compared to utility's retail rate. The bet is on solar technologies to continue incremental gains in efficiency, pushing the final price per kWh down. In the commercial and indu…
The obvious problem with this argument is that if grid-scale solar installations push down utility pricing, this will kill residential solar and SolarCity's business model revolves around residential.
Residential has zero transportation cost, post-installation, and I think those solar roof tiles SolarCity pre-announced is an attempt to blend the solar installation costs into the roofing costs. "You are paying the roofing guy for labor and materials to build/replace the roof anyway, so why not pay our roofing guy to build/replace the roof, and get solar as an incredible bonus" is I think their marketing strategy with that.
Tesla looks like they will lose that cool new thing vibe soon, the novelty of an electric car will wear off - especially when porsche or benz come out with an electric sedan or coupe. These companies will offer a much more compelling product with the ownership value that people expect from a luxury car company. I have shopped a model S and besides the electric drivetrain it is not really that nice of a car compared t…
You mean "Tesla is done" as in their mission objective has been reached, EV are the future? Whether or not Tesla survives is getting less and less important every day (unless you are a shareholder).
Sure, Tesla as a company may not take off as some people expect, but they have already had a huge impact on the automotive industry and the American Collective Consciousness.
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Chevy Bolt is $37,500 MSRP, and GM likely turns a profit on it (once the R&D investment is recouped), are Tesla's unit economics way worse?
chevy has 105 years of experience at manufacturing automobiles and huge volume with suppliers. there's no way tesla has anything close to their unit economics
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It sounds like I won't convince you, and it probably shouldn't be convincing because it's Chrysler, but we were having problems like that and worse on a 20 year old platform. The way I got involved in Federal Torque was because we delivered a brand new vehicle that basically fell apart (lost an axle iirc) as the customer was cruising down a freeway. Even among all the problems we had, that was a pretty big deal. As a…
Chrysler was a special case. First it was saved in the 80s when it ran itself in a ditch and when rolling up a good head of steam, bought was left of AMC, and had a good partnership with Mitsubishi. The in 98 along comes that infamous Daimler Mercedes merger where Mercedes basically looted Chrysler to prop themselves up. At that time Chrysler was making money hand over fist with their minivan. Once bled dry, a lot be…
My mom bought a Chrysler LeBaron that, in one year of ownership, the brakes, exhaust, cylinder head, a/c and shock absorbers required service. We were later informed by a federal court that her car was one of the "rollback" vehicles. Chrysler denied it and basically told us "see you in court."