Key points from $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ ‘s Q2 Earnings conference call.
Musk said that even with a slight drop in production capacity this year, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ will still meet its delivery target of 1.8 million.
The most Musk-style sentence is that the demand for Cybertruck is too great, and you can’t even see where the demand boundary is.
And, Tesla said it is negotiating with an auto giant to authorize its Fully Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance technology, and allow current FSD users to transfer their qualifications to a new car in Q3.
Below are 50 points related to Q2 earnings, fully self-driving technology development , Dojo supercomputer, Humanoid Robot Optimus, Cybertruck, Supercharger Business,Tesla's solar energy deployment and the future forecasts of $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ that Musk mentioned in the earnings call.
Q2 Earnings Highlight
Despite a lot of macro uncertainty in the world economy, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's operating profit margin has reached 10%.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ currently has a record $23.1 billion in cash on hand.
Model Y became the best-selling car in the world in Q12023, and also the best-selling model in Europe in the first half of the year.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ sees a general decline in the prices of all commodities related to the production of electric vehicles, such as nickel, cobalt and graphite.
Due to a large number of factory upgrades, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's production in the Q3 will be slightly lower than in the Q2, but the delivery target is still 1.8 million vehicles in 2023.
"We plan to increase production as soon as possible to achieve the 50% CAGR target we began to guide in early 2021. In some years, we may grow faster, and in some years, we may grow more Slower, depending on a variety of factors. In 2023, we maintaining a long-term CAGR ahead of 50%.”
Musk said that $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's Robotaxi will have "nearly unlimited demand."
In its earnings filing, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ raised Giga Berlin's annual production capacity to 375,000 vehicles, up from 350,000 previously.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ is working to reduce costs at its Giga Texas and Giga Berlin plants, both of which saw improved profitability in the second quarter.
Fully Self Driving Technology
Musk said that $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ will not commit to no further price cuts, depending on whether international interest rates continue to rise-they may have to lower prices to keep consumers' actual purchasing power unchanged.
Musk said that the autonomous driving battle will have a major impact on the automotive industry, and the realization of FSD will make any decline in profit margins now irrelevant, because FSD will bring inestimable value to the car.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ owners have driven 320 million miles using FSD Beta.
Musk did not directly answer Deutsche Bank's question about when the official version of FSD will be released, but he said that by the end of 2023, FSD will be able to drive more than humans.
Musk said that considering the current capabilities of FSD, the price of FSD is actually very low.
Musk said that just like the NACS charging interface is supported by other car companies, FSD may also be authorized to "major OEMs" in the future.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ is in early discussions with a major automaker to license Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology to them.
Musk said that Q3 this year will allow existing FSD car owners to transfer it to a new car for free. "This is a one-time amnesty," Musk joked.
Dojo supercomputer
Large-scale solutions to vehicle autonomous driving require four technical pillars: super-large real-world data sets, neural network training, vehicle hardware, and vehicle software. Tesla is developing each pillar internally.
Starting this month, Tesla began producing the Dojo supercomputer, a step toward faster and cheaper neural network training.
Musk did not specify the cost of developing Dojo, but said that Tesla may spend more than $1 billion on supercomputers next year.
Musk pointed out that Dojo's software is a combination of open source software and custom software.
Musk said that other competitors who want to challenge Tesla in the field of autonomous driving, "In order to copy us, you need to spend more than one billion dollars on training computers,"
Humanoid Robot Optimus
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ will continue to increase spending on artificial intelligence projects such as FSD, Optimus and Dojo.
Musk said that there are now about 10 Tesla robots working.
Musk said that the output of this humanoid robot will be huge. However, there were many challenges in ramping up Optimus because even its actuators had to be custom-made, and there were no suppliers to produce the actuators needed for Tesla's humanoid robots.
Musk said that $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ will start trialing Optimus in its own factory next year.
Musk said that in the long run, he can consider using Optimus parts plus Neuralink technology to provide body parts for amputees.
Musk said that $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's principle in production planning is to strictly track demand. He also stated that Tesla has a system for monitoring real-time demand and real-time production data.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ said that the development of new vehicles on the next-generation platform is progressing smoothly.
Cybertruck
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ announced that it is testing Cybertruck around the world for final certification and verification. This may be the most unique vehicle product in decades; and with that comes the complexity of experimenting and testing new technology.
Musk said that the demand for Cybertruck far exceeds expectations, and you can't even see where the boundaries of demand are.
Musk praised the Cybertruck, noting that Tesla has worked hard on every millimeter of the vehicle. “This is the first truck with 4 doors, a body over 6 feet and still fit in a 20 foot garage,” Musk said.
Cybertruck will be delivered this year, but Musk also emphasized that there are many new technologies in Cybertruck, and mass production is still scheduled for next year.
Musk denied that the one-piece die-casting will increase the maintenance cost of the vehicle. Musk said that the cost of using Megacast to repair the vehicle is 10 times lower and the speed is 3 times faster. That means collision repairs will get cheaper and faster over time.
Musk said that the repairability of traditional production vehicles is overestimated, and believes that basically one-piece die-casting will be the way all cars will be made in the future. "That's probably why everyone is imitating us."
Tesla is committed to smoothing deliveries throughout the quarter by reducing the percentage of vehicles delivered in the third month.
Tesla calls the 4680 battery a "Cyber cell".
In the second quarter, Giga Texas battery production increased by 80% compared to the first quarter, and the number of batteries produced by the team exceeded 10 million.
The cost of Tesla's 4680 battery has dropped by 25%, and the cost will be further reduced when Cybertruck is mass-produced.
Supercharger Business
The Q2 2023 is the best quarter for Tesla's super charging business.
In the second quarter, Tesla opened an average of 3.5 new Supercharger stations around the world every day.
In the second quarter, Tesla also hit a record high in terms of service and other gross margins.
Tesla opened 68 new stores/service centers around the world in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 29%.
Tesla's solar energy deployment
Tesla's energy business is developing rapidly, with a gross profit margin of 18.4% in the second quarter, an increase of 67% over the first quarter of 2023.
The deployment of energy storage in the second quarter increased by 222% year-on-year to 3.7 GWh. Megapack margins remain strong and in line with expectations, and Tesla has installed more than half a million Powewalls.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's solar energy deployment was basically the same as the previous quarter, at 66 megawatts, a year-on-year decrease, mainly due to the industry-wide postponement of solar energy procurement due to the high interest rate environment.
$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ will expand Tesla Electric to all Tesla owners in Texas later this year (currently only available to Model 3 owners).
The Future of $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$
Musk said, "I am confident that I can achieve long-term goals, but I cannot control short-term goals."
Musk praised $ARK Innovation ETF(ARKK)$ Invest, saying the company's analysis is the best.
Musk said that the evaluation of $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ 's long-term value cannot be based on traditional car companies. The emergence of FSD will make many analysts' judgments on Tesla's long-term value "become stupid."
Musk said that in the long run, Tesla’s value can increase by 5-10 times.
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So this means the stock is not overpriced?