Two analysts have weighed in on apprehensions regarding Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s continued involvement with the company in the eventuality of shareholders voting against approving his 2018 compensation package at Thursday’s annual meeting.
Musk’s Piggy Bank: Musk has “long ago mentally checked out of Tesla,” said bearish analyst Gordon Johnson in an interview with CNBC. “But he’s not gonna leave no matter whether this vote passes or not.”
The analyst said Musk would continue to do what he has been doing for years.
“He is going to continue to use Tesla to milk money out of and support his other businesses,” Johnson said.
To make his point, Johnson noted that media reports said millions of dollars worth of Nvidia chips Tesla ordered were diverted to xAI, which Musk set up in 2023. The Boring Company, another Musk venture, is digging a tunnel under Tesla’s Gigafactory, which the EV maker is paying for, he added.
“He uses Tesla as a piggy bank,” Johnson. The analyst also said the billionaire wants to focus on growth companies and Tesla is no longer a growth company.
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Musk’s Voting Control Obsession: JPMorgan analysts offered some clarity on the drive behind Musk’s demand for 25% voting control in a new note to clients, a Tesla influencer said, sharing snippets of the note on his X handle.
Citing comments of Tesla’s new Investor Relations head Travis Axelrod, the analyst said there has been some misunderstanding regarding Musk’s desire to acquire 25% voting control. The desire is motivated primarily by the “wish to protect humanity from the potentially negative implications of imprudent or improper use of Al technology,” Axelrod reportedly told the JPM analysts.
“Mr. Musk is focused on having a strong enough voice at the company (via control of a sufficient number of voting shares) such that he could ensure a proper governance structure around the use of Al, given the not unreasonable assumption that Al could surpass human-level intelligence in the next several years,” he added.
Robotaxi Opportunity Long-drawn? Separately a Bloomberg report said, citing JPMorgan analysts, that the robotaxi opportunity is years away from fructifying. On Aug. 8 at the robotaxi unveil event, the company will likely show merely a concept, and potentially an accompanying app and the business model, the analysts said.
“But we do not expect material revenue generation likely for years to come,” they said, citing the IR head.
In premarket trading on Wednesday, Tesla edged down 0.17% to $170.37, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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