Tesla: The next generation electric vehicle is being developed, and the cost is only half of Model3

Source: Netease Technology

    On October 20, it was reported that Tesla, the US electric vehicle manufacturer, announced its financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 after Wednesday local time. The financial report shows that Tesla‘s total revenue in the third quarter was 21.454 billion US dollars, up 56% year on year; Net profit was US $3.292 billion, up 103% year on year. Tesla said that the production capacity and delivery volume of electric vehicles in the third quarter reached a single quarter high.

    After the release of the financial report, Elon, CEO of Tesla? Elon Musk, CFO Zach? Zach Kirkhorn and Martin? Martin Viecha and other company executives attended the financial report conference call to introduce the company‘s third quarter results and answer questions from investors and analysts.

    Musk first reviewed the company‘s financial data for the third quarter. He said Tesla expects to continue to break records in the fourth quarter. Musk said, "God bless us, it seems that we will have an epic end."

    Musk mentioned that the output of Fremont plant in California reached a record high in the third quarter and is still increasing. He believed that the Fremont plant was already one of the most productive automobile manufacturing plants in the United States.

    He thinks Tesla‘s 2022 AI Day is a success. Musk said that as a recruitment activity, AI Day played a role. "We saw a large number of world-class talents sending resumes."

    Musk reiterated that Tesla‘s goal is to achieve the widespread release of the beta FSD system by the end of this year. "In this quarter, we expect that the FSD system will be released on a large scale in the North American market." Musk said that the large-scale release of the FSD will take place in about a month. He also stressed that according to Tesla‘s data, it is safer for users to use FSD when driving Tesla cars than when not using it.

    Musk stressed that the market demand for Tesla electric vehicles is very large, and particularly refuted the concern that the company has some demand problems. He said that Tesla is working hard to deliver every electric vehicle produced, and the operating profit margin has been maintaining a strong growth momentum.

    Musk revealed that Tesla is likely to conduct a stock buyback of about $5 billion to $10 billion. He also stressed that the most important thing is to focus on Tesla‘s long-term trends. Even if the company encounters resistance in the short term, the long-term prospects are still very bright.

    Musk said he believed Tesla could far exceed Apple‘s current market value. He said frankly, "Now everyone thinks that we can far exceed the current market value of Apple. I think the market value of Tesla may exceed the total market value of Apple and Saudi Aramco."

    "This is a very exciting future, an unprecedented future," Musk said Tesla‘s success should be attributed to the company team. "You people are great. You make everything possible."

    Kirk Horn, the company‘s chief financial officer, also made a statement, saying that Tesla‘s profit margin in the third quarter declined due to the operating costs of the Berlin super factory and the Texas super factory. He emphasized that every electric vehicle produced by the Berlin super factory and the Texas super factory contributed greatly to Tesla‘s overall sales.

    Kirkhorn said that Tesla Energy also recorded the best gross profit ever, mainly driven by the Megapack battery pack business. Kirkhorn said that despite the supply chain risks, Tesla still hopes to achieve about 50% growth this year.

    Then Tesla executives began to answer questions from investors and analysts.

    The first is the issue of the inflation reduction bill. Musk said that Tesla believes it can meet the requirements of the Act, whether it is an electric vehicle or an energy product. "We really want to meet the requirements of the IRS," Musk said

    Some investors also mentioned the backlog of Tesla vehicles and the delivery of orders. Musk said that Tesla is confident to maintain a strong growth momentum in the fourth quarter. He acknowledged that although the company‘s output increased by as much as 50% annually, the delivery volume did not increase, mainly because there were not enough vehicles to transport these offline vehicles. After all, there was too much logistics work to consider.

    Someone mentioned Tesla‘s 50% annual growth rate. Musk replied, "As far as we know, Tesla will continue to grow." When asked what products will be available in the future, Musk jokingly said that he would not talk about them. Theoretically, he could, but he would not.

    Musk stressed, "At Tesla, we have been committed to continuous improvement."

    Investors asked about the German energy crisis and whether it would affect the planned Berlin super factory. Kirkhorn replied that Tesla did not think the crisis would affect the Berlin super factory. "We will continue to wait and see," he said

    Investors also asked about the pricing and final design finalization of the Cyber pickup. When investors asked when they could get the beta version of Cyberpickup, Musk also made a joke. However, Tesla executives said, "Texas Super Factory is preparing for the launch of Cybertruck.

    Musk mentioned that Tesla Semi electric truck may also be delivered around December 1. He said that Semiwon‘t sacrifice any cargo capacity, and the endurance mileage under full load will reach 500 miles (about 800 kilometers). Tesla aims to produce 50000 Semi trucks in the North American market.

    Musk took this opportunity to joke that "heavy trucks obviously do not need hydrogen."

    Some investors asked about the progress of 4680 battery capacity increase. Tesla executives pointed out that battery production was actually progressing smoothly. The focus now is to further reduce costs and further increase production in the North American market. "It looks pretty good," Musk said

    He added: "Our goal is to achieve 1000GW of battery production per year in North America."

    Investors asked Tesla how to deal with the possible long-term recession of the global economy. Musk responded: "Frankly, we are moving at full speed, rain or shine." He explained that Tesla did not reduce production or decline. After all, the development of electric vehicles is unstoppable.

    Musk said: "I won‘t say it is recession proof, but it is recession proof." He also said that Tesla believes that the energy business will grow faster than the electric vehicle business.

    Kirkhorn added, "We can resist many economic downturn factors."

    Investors also asked about Tesla‘s third platform. Musk said that although Tesla did not announce the exact date, the main energy of the company‘s car development team is to develop the next generation of cars. Musk estimates that its cost is only half of Model 3, and its output may be higher than the sum of all Tesla‘s current automobile products.

    If the cost and time for Tesla to produce two cars are only equivalent to producing one Model 3, it will undoubtedly change the rules of the market game.

    Musk also added that when he said he believed that Tesla‘s market value might be larger than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined, he was not talking about Optimus Prime at all.

    The investor is followed by the analyst‘s question. Morgan Stanley analysts asked whether Tesla would enter the mining industry. Musk explained that Tesla could enter the mining industry itself, but if the company could find reliable suppliers, it would not do so. Musk said, "We will do whatever we have to do... but if we have to dig, we will."

    He also talked about the permits or requirements related to mining business, and particularly emphasized the importance of some materials to the company‘s business.

    Wells Fargo analysts asked about the progress of the FSD system. Musk said Tesla plans to release a large-scale FSD beta at the end of this year. He believed that the FSD system could finally free the driver‘s hands, and said that the FSD rarely needed driver intervention in the work process.

    Oppenheimer analysts of the investment bank asked Tesla about its operating expenses and where Tesla would invest. Kirkhorn said that Tesla‘s operational leverage shows that the company can further optimize its operations. Tesla‘s growth is too fast to keep steady, but it should be normalized in the future. Kirkhorn said, "The operating leverage ratio has been greatly improved. This quarter is the lowest."

    Musk said: "We are investing in all possible businesses we can think of, and we are still generating a lot of cash." Tesla executives also stressed that Optimus Prime will certainly change something.

    Analysts from Canaccord Genuity, an investment bank, asked about the price of Tesla‘s products. Musk said that the price of lithium and other battery components is rising, while the cost of transportation is falling. Musk stressed that different commodities need to consider different price trends.

    Kirkhorn said that although the increase in commodity prices reached a peak in the third quarter, Tesla believed that the commodity prices in the production and manufacturing sector declined slightly. Musk said he hoped that the decline would continue in 2023.

    When asked about the purchase of social media platform Twitter, Musk said that he was more like a technical expert or engineer than an investor. "I‘m very interested in the status of Twitter," Musk said, adding that the value of Twitter may be an order of magnitude higher than the current valuation.

    Analysts from New Street Research Company asked about Tesla‘s products and its measures for scale expansion. Company executives emphasized that Tesla‘s growth goals were achieved in a few years. This will take time, but Tesla is working hard to resolve the details of cost. A typical example is the Tesla 4680 battery, which is scheduled until 2026. Tesla considers all aspects from cost to production, from mining to battery cells.

    Bernstein analysts asked where Tesla‘s 4680 battery is used. Musk revealed that the Semi electric truck does not use 4680 batteries at present. But Tesla is producing a Model Y electric car with 4680 batteries in a Texas super factory.

    Musk also said that Tesla did not want the 4680 battery to become the bottleneck of increasing the capacity of the Cyber pickup.

    Analyst from Truist, a securities firm, asked about FSD and Optimus Prime. Musk reiterated his belief that Tesla can achieve fully automatic driving. Musk said that the FSD system will soon be realized, so Tesla needs to show the real functions of the FSD system to regulators.

    As for the Dojo supercomputer, Tesla needs to prove that it is better than the equipment of today‘s top technology companies such as Nvidia. Musk said: "The situation of Dojo has not been determined." However, he also said that Tesla believes that the Dojo architecture is the right architecture to win.

     Musk also pointed out that the success probability of Optimus Prime robot is "very high".