5 things I want to hear from Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the Milken conference
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Sound the alarm bell — we are about to have a post-earnings Elon Musk sighting.
The annual Milken conference, held at the Beverly Hills Hilton, is financial media’s version of the Oscars. It’s posh, expensive (no swag bags given to us commoners — we couldn’t accept them anyway!), and crazy crowded. You never know who you will run into at the patio coffee bar. And you end up leaving more knowledgeable on something than when you came in.
This year’s conference promises to be true to form.
Former President Bill Clinton is on the speaking docket and will likely have a few choice words on the upcoming presidential election. Sports greats Magic Johnson and Alex Rodriguez are on panel chats, ditto investing titan Ken Griffin of Citadel.
The Yahoo Finance squad of yours truly, Akiko Fujita, and Yasmin Khorram will be there, reporting live bright and early from inside the hotel. Our coverage kicks off at 9:00 a.m. ET on Yahoo Finance, with a host of market-moving, big-name interviews.
Out of all the action we’ll be a part of, we are probably most intrigued by Musk’s entrance to the star-studded program. The Tesla (TSLA) CEO will be speaking at 5 p.m. PT on Monday with the famed (and conference host) Michael Milken.
Musk is a busy guy, to say the least, and isn’t exactly a regular on the annual conference scene. He notoriously hates the World Economic Forum event in Davos, for example.
So I suspect he is coming armed with a couple of things to get off his chest, as he should.
While Tesla’s stock has rallied 22% since its late April earnings report on hopes related to a potential cheap EV, the news flow beyond those numbers has been terrible.
The company is in full layoff mode (despite wanting to grow with a new EV, AI, and robots…), sacking its human resources chief and its entire Supercharger department — despite the impact on partners such as General Motors (GM). The much-delayed Cybertruck has had a major recall.
Tesla seems more in chaos mode than ludicrous mode — and the Street generally would agree.
“We believe our concerns around earnings trajectory remain founded, based on Tesla’s new pragmatic approach to new models raising difficult questions and creating considerable execution risk while leaving limited volume upside,” Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner said in a client note.
Here’s a list of items Musk needs to discuss — and be clear on — to justify the stock’s rally, in this attendee’s opinion. Whether he does this, who knows? The room is filled with big thinkers, and he may wax poetic on life on Mars or mean-looking robots that could delicately pet a puppy’s butt.
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How feasible is a profitable robotaxi launch in the next 12 months, and have you discussed this with regulators?
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Why are you laying people off in droves yet promising major growth with robotaxis, cheaper cars, and robots? Don’t you need humans to do this?
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If you see yourself as an AI company, why bother making low-margin cars? Why not scrap car-making operations and license your powerful technology to other automakers to unlock software-like profit margins?
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How long do you plan to stay at Tesla given your other obligations?
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Tesla recalls have been the norm — how will you ensure product quality on a $25,000 Tesla is up to par with other cars in the price class?
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. He is also the host of the “Opening Bid” podcast. Follow Sozzi on Twitter/X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com. Are you a CEO and want to come on Yahoo Finance Live? Email Brian Sozzi.
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