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Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

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Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#341

Post by xkjkls »

woodandsteel wrote: post #340
xkjkls wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s really hard to ever say a company is properly investing if their CapEx on their income statements exceeds their depreciation. Can you name other fast growing companies that is true for?

I don't understand enough about financials to understand what you are saying. But more to the point, what exactly do you think Tesla should have been spending its money on that it didn't? And let add to my original comment that Tesla also has the Semi going into production later this year, and recently brought out a greatly improved version of its solar roof, and is working like crazy on self-driving. But back to my…

> I don't understand enough about financials to understand what you are saying.

Capital Expenditures are what a company spends on land, buildings, equipment -- all of those sort of long term assets. Depreciation is how much the value of those assets decline over time with usage and would eventually require maintenance or repair costs.

Usually, when depreciation exceeds CapEx, it means the company isn't spending enough to maintain their current assets, and this will eventually catch up to them. For growing companies investing in the future, CapEx is usually a great deal more than depreciation, since there will be a large amount spent on future assets.

> But more to the point, what exactly do you think Tesla should have been spending its money on that it didn't?

> And let add to my original comment that Tesla also has the Semi going into production later this year, and recently brought out a greatly improved version of its solar roof, and is working like crazy on self-driving.

> But back to my question: what should it have been spending its money on that it didn't?

My point is that the PR statements that Tesla releases don't match the financials. It's easy to announce that a factory is being built or a new car is going into production, but we should be extremely skeptical of these statements when they aren't backed up by audited financial information.

Generally when investing in a company you should look at their financials first, as they are going to be the most honest, and PR statements/rumors last, as they will be the least honest.

Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#342

Post by simonebrunozzi »

jonplackett wrote: post #276
philwelch wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Range, performance, the hope of self-driving, the supercharging network (Which is much bigger than people think!), and of course, the fact that they look like normal cars. The self-driving bit is a risk either way, but I think Tesla is dangerously close to losing out on both the “looking like a normal car” and potentially the performance factor if they’re serious about Cybertruck.

Personally I think cybertruck is a one-off looks wise. The model Y looks totally normal. Plus I actually think the cybertruck looks awesome (you have to see it as a driving space ship not a car) and the value is amazing - so much range for not that much money. And that thing looks built to last (balls of metal thrown at the windows withstanding)

The glass issue will be solved eventually. And I don't mind a bulletproof car that looks amazing (to me).

Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#343

Post by simonebrunozzi »

CraftThatBlock wrote: post #183
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other car manufacturers are missing what makes Tesla do so well. It's a lot of things, really. Range, performance, the hope of self-driving, the supercharging network (Which is much bigger than people think!), and of course, the fact that they look like normal cars. Most other EVs like the Leaf are either incredibly lacking in range and performance, or they're incredibly ugly like the BMW i3. Then you've got cars lik…

The logo for Mullen is incredibly similar to Tesla's. Also, Supercharger v3 goes up to 250kW

250? That's insane! Do you know what the timeline is? Can we assume all charging stations will be upgraded, or will there be a limitation in capacity?

Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#344

Post by simonebrunozzi »

xkjkls wrote: post #238
brianwawok wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many billions were made off of Amazon with a bus factor of 1?

I don’t think anyone who really understands Amazon would have ever claimed that they have a bus factor of 1. In fact, I don’t think much would have changed if Bezos retired a decade ago. There’s a reason there are two other Amazon CEOs.

Ex Amazon here (AWS). Pretty much agree with your statement. Bezos "replicated" his management style extensively, the executive team in charge of that is called the "S team" (S = Senior), and I agree that Bezos retiring would not affect the company too much.

Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#345

Post by woodandsteel »

xkjkls wrote: post #341
woodandsteel wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand enough about financials to understand what you are saying. But more to the point, what exactly do you think Tesla should have been spending its money on that it didn't? And let add to my original comment that Tesla also has the Semi going into production later this year, and recently brought out a greatly improved version of its solar roof, and is working like crazy on self-driving. But back to my…

> I don't understand enough about financials to understand what you are saying. Capital Expenditures are what a company spends on land, buildings, equipment -- all of those sort of long term assets. Depreciation is how much the value of those assets decline over time with usage and would eventually require maintenance or repair costs. Usually, when depreciation exceeds CapEx, it means the company isn't spending enoug…

>My point is that the PR statements that Tesla releases don't match the financials. It's easy to announce that a factory is being built or a new car is going into production, but we should be extremely skeptical of these statements when they aren't backed up by audited financial information.

Oh dear, are you saying that Tesla did not actually recently open a new factory in Shanghai, or start a new one outside Berlin? In spite of all the news stories and announcements by the governments in each of the countries. And ditto it has not been developing the Y in spite of all the reported sightings? Or that the new version of the solar roof did not go into production, in spite of all the reviews of it, and all the people who have said they have ordered one? It is all an extremely elaborate hoax? And even when their latest quarterly report discusses all this?

You know, when someone is so far gone into conspiracy theories as you appear to be, there is no reasoning them.

Re: Tesla Financial Results 2019 Q4

#346

Post by xkjkls »

woodandsteel wrote: post #345
xkjkls wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't understand enough about financials to understand what you are saying. Capital Expenditures are what a company spends on land, buildings, equipment -- all of those sort of long term assets. Depreciation is how much the value of those assets decline over time with usage and would eventually require maintenance or repair costs. Usually, when depreciation exceeds CapEx, it means the company isn't spending enoug…

>My point is that the PR statements that Tesla releases don't match the financials. It's easy to announce that a factory is being built or a new car is going into production, but we should be extremely skeptical of these statements when they aren't backed up by audited financial information. Oh dear, are you saying that Tesla did not actually recently open a new factory in Shanghai, or start a new one outside Berlin?…

How many of these things exist currently? As far as I know I’ve only seen a total of 10 deliveries from the Chinese factory, there has not been a single Model Y sold to the public yet, the German factory hasn’t even broken ground, and the Solar Roof, despite being in production for three and a half years still hasn’t had even a thousand customers install yet.

Companies exaggerate in their PR statements. It’s very easy to claim a factory is complete but not have meaningful production. It’s very easy to claim that the Model Y is just around the corner. It’s apparently very easy to bilk investors that solar roofs are beyond a concept phase for three plus years. That doesn’t mean they are.

It’s not a conspiracy theory to want a company to produce audited financials that show that they have done the complete investment in all of these projects and they aren’t vaporware.

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