Tesla's Earnings Call: Top Questions on Investors' Minds

Tesla's investors are lining up for the earnings call

Tesla

Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings call occurs on January 25th after the market closes. Of course, every earnings call for this company draws much attention, but this one may set a new bar. Tesla ended 2022 with a 70 percent drop in stock price and investors looking for answers.

As of writing this, 31 hours before the live webcast will start on YouTube, there are 20 people waiting and more than 100 likes. The company has been gathering questions from registered investors, and users can vote the questions up to ensure they get asked. There are 2,289 questions.

Top Questions and Topics

The top voted question with just under 4,000 votes, which also represents 2.5 million shares, is: After recent price cuts, analysts released expectations that Tesla automotive gross margin excluding leases and reg credits will drop below 20% and average selling price around $47k across all models. Where do you see average selling price and gross margins after the price cuts?

Another question is about the Solar Roof product, its struggles to gain traction, and what changes can be expected in future versions to increase scale. Investors also want to know about the progress of the 4680 battery ramp, the current roadblocks, and when the company expects to scale to 10,000 vehicles a week.

Additionally, investors are curious about the production status of the Cybertruck, the margins for the stationary energy storage business, and the future forecast for Tesla's energy products. They also want to know about the possible brand damage caused by Elon Musk's political tweets and how it will be mitigated.

Missing Questions on Advertising

Musk recently tweeted: Teslas are the safest cars on the road, but most people don't know that. There have been numerous calls for the company to start advertising, and Tesla's incredible commitment to safety would be an excellent campaign.

However, Tesla has no marketing budget, has not spent a dime on commercials or ads and got rid of the entire communications team years ago. Musk used the same promotion he did with PayPal, paying users to refer. But the referral program was stopped in most regions, and several people are still owed a Roadster.

That was a different time. Legacy automakers are no longer snickering at the tiny Silicon Valley start-up. Instead, they are doing everything they can to catch up to Tesla, including millions of dollars in advertising. Tesla reported a significant boost in sales the day after the 2022 Super Bowl when the competition spent millions on advertising their electric vehicles. But that was when those companies' EV programs were barely off the ground, and Tesla had inventory to move.

Now Tesla must promote things the average consumer doesn't know about, like safety, technology and performance. As Musk himself said, people don't know, so it's his job to tell them.

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series. 

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

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Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer. 

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips. 

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.

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