Specialist
Former Director at Tesla Inc
Agenda
- Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Q4 earnings, highlighting delivery and production figures
- Model Y and Model 3 manufacturing challenges
- CAPEX requirements – German Gigafactory progress and China manufacturing
- Battery innovation trends
- Outlook for 2020 and beyond, focusing on the Cybertruck and Semi
Questions
1.
Could you share your high-level overview of the industry and Tesla’s operating environment, including key trends and themes investors should pay attention to?
2.
How would you describe Tesla’s performance over the last 4-5 months?
3.
How confident are you that Tesla will reach its target of 500,000 cars delivered in total for 2020?
4.
What was your initial reaction to the recent secondary stock offering? Do you think there are obvious candidates for where the cash infusion will be used?
5.
Could you elaborate on why the Berlin Gigafactory will be more capital-intensive and challenging than the Shanghai one?
6.
What factors would you monitor to determine how strongly Tesla comes back from the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China?
7.
In the last earnings call, Elon Musk mentioned production outpacing deliveries for 2020. How feasible do you think this is, given the coronavirus impact and the company’s performance?
8.
To what extent would you be worried that the Model 3 ramp-up might cannibalise Model S and Model X demand?
9.
What are the margin implications for Tesla if Model 3 reservations overtake those for the higher-margin Model S?
10.
How much of a gross margin headwind do you expect the Model Y ramp-up to be for the company overall?
11.
Was there anything that surprised you about the Q4 2019 delivery figures?
12.
Where would you expect EV penetration to be in the US at the end of 2020 and into early 2021? Do you expect Tesla to maintain a higher-than-50% EV market share?
13.
Would you agree that the Model 3 is depressing demand for the Model S, and why or why not?
14.
Do you think the rapid move towards Model Y is a response to Model 3 demand drying up after getting through the initial pre-orders? Why or why not?
15.
When would you reasonably expect the China Gigafactory to be completely running at full capacity?
16.
How has the manufacturing process evolved? Have the electric components been reduced? What manufacturing and technological challenges has Tesla overcome?
17.
Can you comment on what the ramp-up of the Berlin Gigafactory might entail, aside from the costs we discussed?
18.
How do you think Tesla perceives its single-source suppliers? Do you think it could potentially use a second source for silicon carbide and align that supply chain with its battery supply chain, where it now uses three suppliers?
19.
What would you expect from the rumoured battery investor day that the company might have planned later this year?
20.
What did you make of the decision to move more sales online in 2019?
21.
Do you have any commentary on the energy generation and storage side of the business? The company accounts for it slightly differently and it seems not to be growing very quickly.
22.
What is your take on Elon Musk’s management style and the rest of the leadership team? Overall, what are the strengths and weaknesses?
23.
Do you think the advent of a Tesla autonomous ride-share network could depress demand for individual cars if customers might choose to opt for the ride-share service over buying a Tesla themselves?
24.
What would you say are the best- and worst-case scenarios for Tesla over the next 2-3 years?
25.
Do you have any closing comments on Tesla and your outlook for 2020?
