4 ms·

Tesla reports 45% decline in quarterly profit

41 points by philk10 2y ago

retrocryptid 2y ago
[flagged]
- dang 2y ago
  Can you please stop posting unsubstantive comments? Especially flamebaity ones, and particularly when a discussion is just getting started. Threads are sensitive to initial conditions, so low-quality dross can nudge things in a bad direction. We're trying for the opposite here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - retrocryptid 2y ago
    Okay. You want me to delete the prev comment? I think I have a real comment in there somewhere, but yeah, it came out pretty snarky. I think the point I might have been getting at was this might be the result of unfulfilled FSD/robotaxi hype. Tesla started as a cool car company, but definitely a "car" company, competing with Ford, GM, Stellantis, etc. Over time, more of the story about the company and its products was the robotaxi narrarive. By the end of 2020, the stock price had rocketed up partially for macro reasons, but largely for expectations of sales of FSD/robotaxi capabilities. Or at least that's my perception. Tesla fans I talked to all repeated the robotaxi story... "any day now, FSD is going to let me rent out my car as a taxi while I work. I'll actually make money from owning my Tesla!" It's 2024 and the last I heard was the robotaxi demo is again delayed and while FSD is running over fewer people than in the past, it still may be a ways away. From that perspective, robotaxi in 2020 was hype. In other words, TLSA's stock price was inflated by hype in 2020, not completely unlike tech securities in the late 90s. A 45% hit in per-share profit is not surprising given the vaporware nature of the cybertruck in the early 2020s and robotaxi/FSD capabilities. But my main point is it is disappointing to see a once-innovative firm resorting to what feels like DotCom era hype.
    - dang 2y ago
      No need to delete! but your reply is an excellent example of the 'rebound' theory*: the explanations that users post in response to a moderation reply are often the the thoughtful, substantive comment they should have posted in the first place. If only we had a way to jump past the first two steps of that cycle... * https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20rebound&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
moandcompany 2y ago
Jack Barker: "Pied Piper's product is its stock. Whatever makes the value of the stock goes up is what we are going to make. Maybe sometime in the future, we can change the world and perform miracles and all of that stuff. I hope we do. But like I told you before, I am not going to mortgage the present for that."
candiddevmike 2y ago
Stock down 4% after hours. Still have a ways to go with that 63 PE (if Tesla is a car company, Ford's is 14, if Tesla is an AI-adjacent software company, meta's is 28)
mullingitover 2y ago
They're a pure play now. "It's not about how much you earn, it's about how much you're worth. And who is worth the most? Companies that lose money!" - Silicon Valley
- SV_BubbleTime 2y ago
  You know they're making a massive profit though, right?
hnburnsy 2y ago
Alternate headline, Tesla achieves record quarterly revenues.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dang 2y ago
Related: Tesla Q2 2024 Update [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41050278 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41050278 - July 2024 (68 comments)
dagmx 2y ago
Honestly, this is not surprising. - A lot of Tesla competitors have caught up (outside of self driving) and energized their sections of the EV market. I see way more Korean EVs on the road than ever before for example. - EV growth is slowing due to various factors, but so are cars in general due to economic issues. - Elon opened up the NACS as a gambit for not having to change their own chargers. NACS won, but a lot of prospective EV buyers are waiting for NACS native vehicles from other manufacturers. - Elon has really alienated massive chunks of the EV demographic. Identity politics are inherently tumultuous. As a launch batch Model Y owner myself, I’m definitely looking elsewhere whenever this car needs replacing. I want more comfort and just a better driving experience (turn signal stalks, an instrument cluster etc in the more accessible models) and the only reason I went with Tesla is the charging network is unmatched in NA. I do not have a very rosy outlook on Tesla as long as Elon remains in charge. He got it where it is, but he’s increasingly a liability.
- mullingitover 2y ago
  > - Elon has really alienated massive chunks of the EV demographic. Identity politics are inherently tumultuous. This is such a gigantic unforced error, it alone is really grounds for his dismissal. The CEO of Rivian might have some terrible opinions, too. I wouldn't know because he's not out there all day, every day telling the world about them.
  - marcusverus 2y ago
    > This is such a gigantic unforced error No doubt. > it alone is really grounds for his dismissal. Tesla shareholders have the most skin in this game, and based on the recent pay-package vote, they strongly disagree.
    - mullingitover 2y ago
      > based on the recent pay-package vote, they strongly disagree. Indeed, it's almost as if everyone knows the fundamentals are weak, it's 90% a meme stock, and they're afraid that taking away the magic part-time CEO will end the meme.
pylua 2y ago
Time to call in… McKinsey!
belter 2y ago
So on the earnings call, that just completed...Musk just invented a new word play. Now FSD is currently on "Supervised Self Driving" and they will be transitioning to...."Unsupervised Self Driving". When asked when the first actual Robo Taxi voyage will occur, answered that will depend on when they will achieve "Unsupervised Self Driving"...His new word for FSD. In other words,the Robo Taxi previously announced and postponed for September, does not exist as a viable product...
- cozzyd 2y ago
  This means that it will only be enabled when regulators aren't watching.
  - belter 2y ago
    He also went on making another absurd statement. That would expect this "Unsupervised Self Driving" technology, to be approved in all countries by regulators until the end of the year. And no, no analyst asked how does he expect something it's not available yet to be approved, ( presumably after product release ) by regulators in multiple countries, within presumably 2 to 3 months... Just in Germany, they would take 12 months to find the correct paper form....
    - rsynnott 2y ago
      I mean, I think at this point that sort of statement isn't _for_ the analysts; they know very well it's not going to happen. It's for the retail meme-stock-y investors. As you say, even if they had something which _actually worked_, today, getting it cleared by regulators in all countries, or realistically in _any_ country, by end of year is simply not going to happen; it's just obvious nonsense.

41 points by philk10 2y ago

retrocryptid 2y ago

[flagged]

dang 2y ago
Can you please stop posting unsubstantive comments? Especially flamebaity ones, and particularly when a discussion is just getting started. Threads are sensitive to initial conditions, so low-quality dross can nudge things in a bad direction. We're trying for the opposite here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- retrocryptid 2y ago
  Okay. You want me to delete the prev comment? I think I have a real comment in there somewhere, but yeah, it came out pretty snarky. I think the point I might have been getting at was this might be the result of unfulfilled FSD/robotaxi hype. Tesla started as a cool car company, but definitely a "car" company, competing with Ford, GM, Stellantis, etc. Over time, more of the story about the company and its products was the robotaxi narrarive. By the end of 2020, the stock price had rocketed up partially for macro reasons, but largely for expectations of sales of FSD/robotaxi capabilities. Or at least that's my perception. Tesla fans I talked to all repeated the robotaxi story... "any day now, FSD is going to let me rent out my car as a taxi while I work. I'll actually make money from owning my Tesla!" It's 2024 and the last I heard was the robotaxi demo is again delayed and while FSD is running over fewer people than in the past, it still may be a ways away. From that perspective, robotaxi in 2020 was hype. In other words, TLSA's stock price was inflated by hype in 2020, not completely unlike tech securities in the late 90s. A 45% hit in per-share profit is not surprising given the vaporware nature of the cybertruck in the early 2020s and robotaxi/FSD capabilities. But my main point is it is disappointing to see a once-innovative firm resorting to what feels like DotCom era hype.
  - dang 2y ago
    No need to delete! but your reply is an excellent example of the 'rebound' theory*: the explanations that users post in response to a moderation reply are often the the thoughtful, substantive comment they should have posted in the first place. If only we had a way to jump past the first two steps of that cycle... * https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20rebound&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

moandcompany 2y ago

Jack Barker: "Pied Piper's product is its stock. Whatever makes the value of the stock goes up is what we are going to make. Maybe sometime in the future, we can change the world and perform miracles and all of that stuff. I hope we do. But like I told you before, I am not going to mortgage the present for that."

candiddevmike 2y ago

Stock down 4% after hours. Still have a ways to go with that 63 PE (if Tesla is a car company, Ford's is 14, if Tesla is an AI-adjacent software company, meta's is 28)

mullingitover 2y ago

They're a pure play now. "It's not about how much you earn, it's about how much you're worth. And who is worth the most? Companies that lose money!" - Silicon Valley

SV_BubbleTime 2y ago
You know they're making a massive profit though, right?

hnburnsy 2y ago

Alternate headline, Tesla achieves record quarterly revenues.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

dang 2y ago

Related: Tesla Q2 2024 Update [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41050278 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41050278 - July 2024 (68 comments)

dagmx 2y ago

Honestly, this is not surprising. - A lot of Tesla competitors have caught up (outside of self driving) and energized their sections of the EV market. I see way more Korean EVs on the road than ever before for example. - EV growth is slowing due to various factors, but so are cars in general due to economic issues. - Elon opened up the NACS as a gambit for not having to change their own chargers. NACS won, but a lot of prospective EV buyers are waiting for NACS native vehicles from other manufacturers. - Elon has really alienated massive chunks of the EV demographic. Identity politics are inherently tumultuous. As a launch batch Model Y owner myself, I’m definitely looking elsewhere whenever this car needs replacing. I want more comfort and just a better driving experience (turn signal stalks, an instrument cluster etc in the more accessible models) and the only reason I went with Tesla is the charging network is unmatched in NA. I do not have a very rosy outlook on Tesla as long as Elon remains in charge. He got it where it is, but he’s increasingly a liability.

mullingitover 2y ago
> - Elon has really alienated massive chunks of the EV demographic. Identity politics are inherently tumultuous. This is such a gigantic unforced error, it alone is really grounds for his dismissal. The CEO of Rivian might have some terrible opinions, too. I wouldn't know because he's not out there all day, every day telling the world about them.
- marcusverus 2y ago
  > This is such a gigantic unforced error No doubt. > it alone is really grounds for his dismissal. Tesla shareholders have the most skin in this game, and based on the recent pay-package vote, they strongly disagree.
  - mullingitover 2y ago
    > based on the recent pay-package vote, they strongly disagree. Indeed, it's almost as if everyone knows the fundamentals are weak, it's 90% a meme stock, and they're afraid that taking away the magic part-time CEO will end the meme.

pylua 2y ago

Time to call in… McKinsey!

belter 2y ago

So on the earnings call, that just completed...Musk just invented a new word play. Now FSD is currently on "Supervised Self Driving" and they will be transitioning to...."Unsupervised Self Driving". When asked when the first actual Robo Taxi voyage will occur, answered that will depend on when they will achieve "Unsupervised Self Driving"...His new word for FSD. In other words,the Robo Taxi previously announced and postponed for September, does not exist as a viable product...

cozzyd 2y ago
This means that it will only be enabled when regulators aren't watching.
- belter 2y ago
  He also went on making another absurd statement. That would expect this "Unsupervised Self Driving" technology, to be approved in all countries by regulators until the end of the year. And no, no analyst asked how does he expect something it's not available yet to be approved, ( presumably after product release ) by regulators in multiple countries, within presumably 2 to 3 months... Just in Germany, they would take 12 months to find the correct paper form....
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    I mean, I think at this point that sort of statement isn't _for_ the analysts; they know very well it's not going to happen. It's for the retail meme-stock-y investors. As you say, even if they had something which _actually worked_, today, getting it cleared by regulators in all countries, or realistically in _any_ country, by end of year is simply not going to happen; it's just obvious nonsense.