Elon Musk wants Tesla to focus on profits or warns that TSLA will fall like ‘soufflé under a sledgehammer’ - Electrek

In a new email to Tesla employees obtained by Electrek, CEO Elon Musk says that he wants the automaker to focus on profits and cost-saving.

If not, the CEO warns that Tesla’s stock (TSLA) could fall drastically.

Tesla’s stock is currently on an incredible rise, increasing the company’s valuation by over $100 billion last month.

The market valuation doesn’t really match the fundamentals of the company’s financials.

In short, the market believes that the company will keep growing at an impressive pace and deliver strong profits in the future.

In a new email sent to Tesla employees today and obtained by Electrek, Musk warns that Tesla needs to be working on delivering those future profits:

When looking at our actual profitability, it is very low at around 1% for the past year. Investors are giving us a lot of credit for future profits, but if, at any point, they conclude that’s not going to happen, our stock will immediately get crushed like a soufflé under a sledgehammer!

Tesla has achieved profits in the last five quarters in a row, but the profits have been marginal and often dependent on regulatory credits.

Recently, the CEO has also been focusing on making Tesla vehicles more affordable.

At Tesla’s Battery Day event in September, Tesla announced an upcoming $25,000 electric car enabled by its new battery cell.

Leading up to the less expensive vehicle, which is still about three years away, according to the CEO, Musk wants Tesla to focus on cost savings.

He wrote in the email to employees today:

Much more important, in order to make our cars affordable, we have to get smarter about how we spend money. This a tough Game of Pennies — requiring thousands of good ideas to improve part cost, a factory process or simply the design, while increasing quality and capabilities. A great idea would be on that saves $5, but the vast majority are 50 cents here or 20 cents there.

It’s not the first time that Tesla is launching company-wide cost-saving efforts.

Last year, Tesla implemented a new cost-cutting initiative that involved a team, which included Musk himself and CFO Zach Kirkhorn, examining every payment, including “parts, salary, travel expenses, and rent.”

The pressure led to some managers going a bit overboard with cost savings.

The new email today was sent amid Tesla starting its end-of-year delivery push in an attempt to deliver a new record number of cars this quarter and 500,000 for the entire 2020 year.

Earlier today, we reported that Tesla is turning to Cybertruck reservation holders in order to help achieve this new delivery record.

Here’s the email in full:

At a time like this, when our stock is reaching new highs, it may seem as though spending carefully is not as important. This is definitely not true.

When looking at our actual profitability, it is very low at around 1% for the past year. Investors are giving us a lot of credit for future profits, but if, at any point, they conclude that’s not going to happen, our stock will immediately get crushed like a soufflé under a sledgehammer!

Much more important, in order to make our cars affordable, we have to get smarter about how we spend money. This a tough Game of Pennies – requiring thousands of good ideas to improve part cost, a factory process or simply the design, while increasing quality and capabilities. A great idea would be on that saves $5, but the vast majority are 50 cents here or 20 cents there.

In order to make the electric revolution happen we much make electric cars, stationary batteries and solar affordable to all.

Thanks and great working with you as always,
Elon

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