Bizarre conference call: “Elon Musk has to behave smarter”
Elon Musk is considered by many to be the enfant terrible of the tech industry. That the boss of Tesla, SpaceX and Boring Company can actually perform childishly, Musk proved on Wednesday night. That proves that now published the analyst conference call minutes to the Tesla-quarter results – and the reaction in the markets. The Tesla shares is on Thursday afternoon almost seven percent in the minus.
Right at the beginning Musk took off answering the questions – just “as long as there are good questions to answer,” he told the twelve observers who were allowed to attend the conversation. But after the first half hour Musk had enough.
As Bernstein analyst Antonio M. Sacconaghi Musk asked why Tesla Musk’s announcement of a 25 percent gross profit margin target for Model 3 cars about half a year later than expected, made Musk harsh and interrupted Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja. He was explaining the problem with tariff restrictions, rising raw material costs and the temporary replacement of robots by workers.
“Do not make it bigger than she is”
Totally different Musk. “Yes”, he confirmed the statements of the CFO. “But we’re talking about a difference of three to five percent. We’ll catch up in three to six months, “Musk said, adding annoyed to the analyst,” Do not make it bigger than it is. “
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“Boring, stupid questions are not cool”
As Sacconaghi wanted to add another question about the capital equipment of the electric car maker, Musk tore the patience: “Excuse me. The next one please. Boring, stupid questions are not cool. The next, please, “says the 47-year-old.
“These questions are so dry. They kill me “
But the next question – this time from RBC analyst Joseph Spak – did not improve Musk’s mood. He wanted to know what proportion of those Tesla customers Tesla was after reservation of the Model 3 the cars actually delivered. Musk then remained silent for about 15 seconds and finally said. “We continue with Youtube. Sorry, these questions are so dry. They’ll kill me. “
With these words Musk give the word to Galileo Russell, a Tesla fan with its own Youtube channel. This should represent retail investors. Musk spent the next 20 minutes talking to Russell, whose questions he did not seem bored with – which he kept saying.
Quarterly figures: Tesla boss Elon Musk scares the investors
Among other things, Russell wanted to know when Tesla was planning to offer a taxi service to autonomously driving cars, which in turn led Musk to go into detail about the road safety benefits of autonomous driving. Also asked Russell, when should start the production of the future Model Y (Musk: “Not before 2020”) and battery technology for the truck Semi.
“[Dieter Zetsche] has no idea about physics”
Even about the Daimler-Chef Dieter Zetsche Musk and Russell have exchanged – and not in the positive. Russell: “I think the CEO of Daimler said the semi-truck batteries would challenge the laws of physics “. Musk: “He has no idea about physics. I would really like to talk to him about physics – that’s what I studied. “
Unlike professional analysts, Musk seemed to have both time and patience for Russell. Although at the beginning of the conference, attendees were advised to limit themselves to a maximum of two questions, Russell was allowed a good dozen.
For the attention of the Tesla boss, the fan thanked a video on his Youtube channel and a Twitter recommendation with the hashtag #TESLALONG – “long” are called positions of investors who expect price gains.
Other investors did not think so. Shortly after the call, the share of the e-car manufacturer slipped off on Wednesday after a good five percent off. There are the quarterly figures of the automaker partially neat: Tesla increased sales by $ 712 million to $ 3.41 billion in the first quarter, more than analysts had hoped. The company also reduced its loss from $ 3.54 to $ 3.35 per share.
“I’m not here to convince someone to buy our share”
Towards the end of the analyst round, Musk – as has always been the case in the past – approached investors who were irritated by the price fluctuations of the stock: “I’m not here to convince anyone to buy our share.”
At least one participant in the conference call was irritated by Musk’s powerful words. “I left the call very frustrated,” said Rebecca Lindland, analyst at used-car price specialist Kelley Blue Book, in conversation with CNBC, And she added, “Elon, you have to grow up.”
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