EVs Offer Lasting TSLA Strength as Company Eyes Cybercab, Optimus Prospects

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Okay, time to go deep on Tesla. Tesla is our tech spotlight today, and Ben Rose, President Analyst, Battle Road Research is with us. So when we think of Tesla, we stopped thinking of it as a car company for a long time. And what kind of company is it to you?

Ben Rose (0:18)

Yeah. Hi, Nicole. It's very nice to be with you.

I think in recent days, particularly with the Tesla announcement with regard to its car deliveries this quarter, I think there's more of a feeling that it's more of a car company than people think. And in fact, on a relative basis, they're doing very well in the EV market. So I think that's one of the things that's changed, perhaps, in the last couple of months.

SPEAKER_1 (0:47)

Yeah.

Actually, we saw some nice numbers for them when it comes to deliveries and production and still very much a leader in its space, right? When it came on, it was sort of the first and had that lead. And then there was all this competition. There was worries whether or not people would still be interested in Teslas. But we've seen that we know that to be true. Here are some of the numbers, a total of 486,000 plus, and the Model 3Y doing very well, but other models too. As we continue to take a look at Tesla here, let's think about what else Tesla does here. We think of it as a storage for battery power. We think of it also in the robo taxis and autonomous vehicles. Let's talk about one thing at a time, and how about we'll start with the Roadster, because that is, is that the luxury sports car? I mean, is it really luxury? What do we think?

Ben Rose (1:37)

Yes.

SPEAKER_1 (1:38)

What about the numbers and help the bottom line?

Ben Rose (1:40)

Well, I think for those that are familiar with Tesla over many years, you may recall that the original Roadster was a two-seat sports car, a two-seat EV.

It was the first model that they ever introduced. And from there, they got into more, if you will, mass market vehicles such as the Model S, and more recently the Model Y and the Model 3

The Roadster is a Tesla statement that it's very much still a state-of-the-art, high-end EV company capable of creating and delivering an EV that's every bit as fast and powerful as, say, a Ferrari, and probably will have around the same $200,000 price tag. So I think it's more of a symbolic statement that they intend to remain kind of a technology and performance leader in EVs.

SPEAKER_1 (2:44)

Yeah, because we don't know how many they're actually selling, and we saw that with maybe it was the semi truck, or there was another thing that they produced, and the numbers were scarce, right? It's not like a mass-produced thing, or people weren't spoke, right? It was sort of almost novelty-ish to a certain extent. When we think about the EV business and the demand overall, we have to assume that that's still going, right? In order for Tesla to keep going as a business. What about some of the other decisions that have been made in Congress, pertaining to EVs? And what kind of impact that may have on Tesla or other EV companies?

Ben Rose (3:21)

Well, first of all, as you showed the numbers I see up here on the screen, Tesla is on track to deliver around 2 million EVs this year, which is still quite a strong number.

They're probably going to be flat year over year, but still the leader in the marketplace. They have over 50 percent of the US EV market, and they've been actually gaining market share. The US EV market has actually been in a state of decline because of what you just alluded to, which is that in the one big beautiful bill, all of the EV federal tax credits were removed. So that pulled the rug out from under not only Tesla, but others in the EV business, but for their sales to remain relatively constant, while others are declining, I think is a good sign for Tesla overall.

SPEAKER_1 (4:28)

Yeah. Look, we've had some fits and starts. It was getting some more positive numbers when we think about China and Europe and so on and so forth. But it has stood the test of time and so we can, I guess, focus on that for the moment. The stock right now over one year is down about 17 percent. It's gone from almost $500 down to below $300 at its lowest point a few months ago, and now at 376