A fork in the road for Tesla

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FT editor Rula Khalaf picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The involvement of the world’s richest man is the best explanation for the carmaker’s unusual speculation, while the Nazi salute with Tesla’s “technoking” brand took the association into new territory.

Elon Musk’s appearance at Donald Trump’s Inauguration Rally on Monday threw a pair of Sig Heels into much of the Internet, the entrepreneur said. It is called “Fork in the Road of Human Civilization.”

With his support far-right Politicians in Europe, and Twitter to a Safe place For extreme views, Musk is acting like some dank propaganda for the meme age. The question for this financial blog is more about what Tesla’s $1.4tn market capitalization means than humanity.

As an investment,Tesla-financial complex” The tail has been wagging the dog of the stock market because of its massive options trading that does more than share in a car company.

Owning them is seen as a bet that Musk will one day deliver self-driving cars and robots, or put an Optimusbot in every home. Or simply the glorified tech-boom will continue.

However, unlike bitcoin, gold, or other vibration-based investments, there is a real company involved in persuading consumers to hand over large sums of money for desirable things. For one, when Tesla announces full-year results next week, it’s not expected to trade particularly well.

Tesla’s annual sales are forecast to rise slightly to $99.6 billion in 2023 from $96.8 billion. The competition is intensifying, especially in China, where the price of electronic vehicles is falling.

A multiple of more than 12 times estimated sales is too rich for much of Wall Street, a stock where very few analysts are buyers: Bloomberg lists 28 buy recommendations on 17 holds and 14 sellers.

So while most short sellers thought they thought about stocks years ago (please share if you didn’t), today selling cars to make money remains essential to access the amazing technology of tech. He has an idea for the company.

Perhaps the time to buy a Tesla has passed as a weather forecast or a positive future. Perhaps stock prices are impervious to financial gravity. Maybe car buyers don’t care about the so-called “”.Hello fraudHe said.

If investors are starting to worry that Musk might be more associated with white power than clean energy, however, it’s way below $1.4tn.

Further reading:
– Putting a price on the Tesla post mask (FTAV)
– Tesla’s Q1 is going to be a disaster. Does anyone care? (FTAV, 2024)
– Tesla is nuts, will it ever fail? (FTAV, 2020)