Tesla’s Q1 2018 Earnings: Long on Substance, Short on FluffBots

Key takeaways from Tesla’s Q1 earnings report and investor call:

• Tesla will open a Gigafactory in China to build Model Y. Showstopper.
• Tesla is on track to hit 5K per week of Model 3 production. The short-sellers are in deep trouble.
• The Model 3 will soon outsell all midsize luxury cars in its class combined. BMW and Daimler are toast, for starters.
• Innovation rate is Tesla’s competitive edge, and will be for decades into the future. The legacy auto/energy companies are the Wal*Marts, and Tesla is the Amazon.
• Musk is open to sharing the Supercharger network with the legacy auto industry. Will they bite? Pride goeth before a fall.
• Tesla only wants you as an investor if you’re in it for the long term. Day traders and nervous nellies, be gone.
• The CEO will fire underperforming humans and/or robots alike. Equal opportunity employer.
• Galileo Russell of HyperChange TV knocked it out of the park with brilliant questions. Enough with the Wall Street snoozefest. Tesla should invite him and/or other representative(s) of the retail investor community on future calls. How about Rob Maurer with Tesla Daily Podcast for the next call? Also, people like Galileo and Rob are more likely to ask long-term oriented questions, which is what Musk rightly says investors should care about.