Seems the tides are shifting for Tesla, and not in the way you might expect. Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas recently dropped a bombshell that’s got the investment world buzzing: for the first time in ages, the majority of attendees at a Tesla bull-bear lunch believe the stock’s next $50 move is more likely to be up than down.
So, what’s the deal with Tesla these days? Is it still just a car company, or is there more than meets the eye?
Let’s face it, Tesla’s been wearing many hats lately. While its bread and butter has always been electric vehicles, the company’s been dipping its toes into everything from energy storage to humanoid robots. It’s like watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly, except this butterfly also wants to power your home and maybe even replace your butler.
Jonas’s report paints a fascinating picture of a lunch where, for a solid 90 minutes, the conversation revolved around everything but cars. Energy storage, humanoids, AI, Full Self-Driving (FSD), China, geopolitics, and the much-anticipated “robotaxi day” dominated the discussion. It’s as if Tesla’s core auto business has become the awkward cousin no one wants to talk about at family gatherings.
While Tesla’s been cruising along as a car company, it seems investors are finally waking up to its potential in other arenas. AI and robotics are the new hotshots in town, and Tesla’s not just dipping its toes in – it’s doing a full-on cannonball into the deep end.
The company’s ventures into AI, particularly with its Full Self-Driving technology, have been turning heads, (Tesla Robotaxi Revolution: The Skype of Transportation or Just Another Pipe Dream?). Let’s not forget about those humanoid robots Elon keeps teasing. It’s like Tesla’s building its own army of Iron Man suits, minus the whole superhero gig.
Tesla’s energy business might have started as a side project, but it’s quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. From Powerwalls to solar roofs, the company’s making a serious play for the energy sector, Q2 as first positive surprise of the year). It’s like they’re not content with just electrifying the roads – they want to power your entire life.
Here’s the million-dollar question (or should we say billion-dollar?): Can Tesla successfully pivot from being primarily a car company to a multi-faceted tech giant? It’s a tall order, but if anyone’s up for the challenge, it’s probably the company that made electric cars cool.
The investor sentiment seems to be cautiously optimistic. There’s a growing acceptance that Tesla’s stock is driven by factors that can’t be easily measured or tracked. It’s like trying to predict the weather – you can make an educated guess, but there’s always an element of unpredictability.
As Jonas puts it, “Tesla is a car company. But, in our opinion, it is just now starting to get more institutional investor attention about its other capabilities including energy, manufacturing, AI and robotics. Cars are just one of many form factors of embodied AI/robotics.”
So, is Tesla still just a car company? Technically, yes. But in reality, it’s evolving into something much more complex and potentially game-changing. Whether this transformation will pay off remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure – the investment world is watching with bated breath. And who knows? Maybe in a few years, we’ll all be cruising around in self-driving Tesla cars, powered by Tesla energy, with a Tesla robot riding shotgun. Stranger things have happened, right?