Tesla's proof of robotaxi strength will be its ability to ramp, says DVX Ventures' Karim Bousta
Karim Bousta, DVX Ventures co-founder and partner, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the different strategies around full self driving, what's most important for Tesla and much more.
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Los Angeles Times
20 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Can Elon Musk get Tesla back on track? Here are four road bumps
After a tumultuous months-long period by President Trump's side, Elon Musk is turning his attention back to his companies, including the stumbling electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. Musk announced on X last week that his time as a special government employee was over. Tesla investors welcomed the news, hoping that Musk's departure from Washington would boost his car company's reputation and lagging performance. Since Musk began his role leading the White House advisory team called the Department of Government Efficiency in January, Tesla's stock has fallen roughly 12%. On Tuesday, the shares closed at $332, down 3.5%. The Austin, Texas-based company — which has a significant manufacturing operation in Fremont, Calif., and is the dominant EV company in the state — has been the subject of protests and vandalism as Musk, the company's chief executive, aligned himself with Trump and made controversial spending cuts on behalf of the federal government. The brand damage spread outside the U.S. to Europe, where monthly sales in 32 countries fell nearly 50% in April. 'It was very important for Musk to end this chapter and start working on Tesla's next stage of growth,' Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. 'Now he can get back to what he's supposed to be doing.' As the executive shifts his focus back to Tesla, here are four challenges experts say he must tackle: By associating himself with the president and the Trump administration's erratic actions, Musk alienated a large swath of his customers. Many Tesla drivers are liberal-leaning, industry analysts said, and were drawn to the company's environmental mission to take gas cars off the road. In protest over Musk's activities, some Tesla drivers, including celebrities, began selling or getting rid of their vehicles. Others sported new bumper stickers that said, 'I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.' In February, Tesla topped the list of brands that lost the most resale value year over year, according to data provided by Karl Brauer, an analyst with The price of a used Tesla Model S and Model Y each dropped by about 16% in February from a year earlier. 'Price is a reflection of supply and demand,' Brauer said. 'So it could be that nobody wants to buy them anymore, or that there's a massive influx of them available, or both.' Now that he's left Washington, Musk will have to prove that his attention is on Tesla and that he isn't prioritizing political agendas. Ives estimated that about 5% to 10% of the brand damage sustained during Musk's stint in the capital will be permanent. 'Tesla has become a political symbol around the world and that's not a good thing,' said Ives, who has an 'outperform' rating on Tesla's stock. 'But there are much brighter days ahead now that Musk is no longer in the White House.' Musk has made lofty promises for years about the capabilities of Tesla's self-driving technology and plans for a robotaxi service. Though he has often over-exaggerated his progress, Musk has taken important steps toward commercializing autonomous driving technology. The future of his company depends on whether he can follow through, experts said. 'Musk's top priority should be autonomy and robotics,' Ives said. 'With these technologies, I believe Tesla's market cap could reach $2 trillion.' The company is currently valued at just over $1 trillion. According to claims Musk has made, Tesla drivers will one day be able to sleep in their car as it drives them across the country. Tesla's robotaxis will roam city streets, and humanoid robots dubbed Optimus will perform everyday tasks. Brauer compared the emergence of autonomous driving technology to a change on the scale of the internet or smartphones. But it's still far off, he said. Although the driverless taxi company Waymo is already operating in a few cities including Santa Monica, it could take 10 to 15 years for the technology to become widely accessible and integrated into society, Brauer said. Tesla remains the dominant force in the electric vehicle market, but rapidly increasing competition from traditional carmakers and other EV manufacturers have thinned sales, Brauer said. Major manufacturers including Ford and Chevy have released lines of their own electric vehicles, while promising startups such as Irvine-based Rivian have cut into Tesla's market share. At the same time, demand for electric vehicles is plateauing as the market gets saturated, Brauer said. Tesla's profit plummeted 71% in the first quarter to $409 million as the company faced a flurry of setbacks, including a falloff in automotive sales and rising competition. To keep up and remain viable, Tesla will have to reassess aspects of its business model. 'Many people, I think including Musk himself, have realized that the current business model is pretty much played out,' Brauer said. 'He's not going to substantially increase his revenue and his profit selling these same electric cars.' Tesla could receive a boost in sales if it successfully launched an affordable model accessible to more customers, but despite rumors and claims by executives, a release date has not been announced. The company could be further hurt by the loss of a $7,500 federal electric vehicle credit, which encourages sales and is likely to be eliminated by the Trump administration. While chargers for electric vehicles are ubiquitous in many parts of California, infrastructure is lacking throughout large areas of the country — and that's a problem. For the U.S. to rely more heavily on EVs, significant progress has to be made on the network of charging stations, Brauer said. Finding a time and place to charge is an obstacle for many Tesla drivers and limits the range of customers Tesla can reach. The lack of a fully comprehensive charging network would also hinder Musk's plans to operate a nationwide robotaxi service, Brauer said. In California, many chargers are broken or have been intentionally damaged by protesters.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is Tesla Stock a Buy After Soaring in May?
Shares soared more than 23% in May as CEO Elon Musk recommitted to focusing on Tesla. A successful launch of Tesla's Robotaxi service could transform the company's growth trajectory. After a big run-up, the stock's valuation may already reflect much of the good news. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Shares of electric-car maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) soared in May, climbing more than 23%. This was far greater than the S&P 500's 5.5% gain. The sharp move higher helped Tesla recover some of its losses from earlier in the year. Shares wrapped up the month down 14% year to date -- a big improvement from declines of more than 40% earlier this year. The growth stock's surge higher came as Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he is stepping down from President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. Investors are also probably encouraged by the company's progress toward launching a self-driving ride-sharing network in Austin this summer. The autonomous ride-hailing service, which Tesla calls Robotaxi, is expected to be a game-changer for the company and the stock if it is successful. One of the biggest reasons investors have been upbeat about Tesla stock recently is Musk's decision to begin winding down his involvement at DOGE at the beginning of last month. Musk said in Tesla's first-quarter earnings call that he would be "allocating far more of my time to Tesla," starting in May. Then, last week, the CEO went even further when he officially stepped down from the agency. Musk's ambitious leadership has been pivotal to Tesla's growth over the years, and his growing number of responsibilities outside of the company was seen as a negative for the company. It's not surprising, therefore, that the stock has regained some ground as Musk followed through with his plans to give Tesla more of his attention. Musk's attention comes at a time when Tesla is trying to reinvigorate sales growth. The company's automotive revenue fell 20% year-over-year in Q1. Investors are hoping that several major initiatives, including plans for new, lower-cost models and the launch of Robotaxi, will help revitalize Tesla's growth story. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Tesla's Robotaxi service. Given Tesla stock's price-to-earnings ratio of more than 200 as of this writing, investors are clearly expecting strong revenue and earnings growth for years to come. A successful deployment of the company's planned autonomous ride-hailing network is key to this thesis. The reason investors are so bullish on Tesla's robotaxi service is that the company has emphasized that most of the vehicles it has delivered to customers already will be capable of being deployed into the fleet. This means that the company's service can potentially reach a significant scale quite quickly, as customers who opt into the service use their existing vehicles to share in the revenue generated from the service. Therefore, the main limiting factor once Tesla proves that the service is safe will be getting the Robotaxi network approved for operation in various jurisdictions. Musk said in a post on X in May that the company had already been testing self-driving Model Y vehicles without anyone in the driver's seat. So far, the tests have been incident-free, Musk said. This puts the service's rollout a "month ahead of schedule," he noted. Importantly, Tesla is hoping that the its planned launch of its Robotaxi service in Austin, along with its new models later this year, will fuel demand for its vehicles and return the company to strong growth. Indeed, Tesla chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja said in the company's first-quarter earnings call in April that these two catalysts should solicit "a new era of demand" for the company. With Tesla seeming to approach a pivotal moment in which sales growth could spike, is the stock a buy today? While Wall Street is right to be more optimistic about the stock given recent news about Musk's increased involvement and the company's progress toward officially launching its autonomous ride-hailing service, the stock's recent move higher arguably already priced this news in. With this in mind, shares look more like a hold than a buy today. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $366,219!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $38,589!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $656,825!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join , and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Daniel Sparks and/or his clients have positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Tesla Stock a Buy After Soaring in May? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
You're not Elon Musk: Here's how normal people should critique their superiors
Disagree with the boss? Badmouthing a higher-up publicly, like how Elon Musk this week called President Trump's signature bill "a disgusting abomination" on X, won't make sense for most people. But career experts said there are other, more practical ways to deliver negative feedback to a superior. "No one recommends taking to social media to criticize your boss," said organizational psychologist Alison Fragale, especially if your name is attached and you're seriously looking to drive change. "Though you might get a lot of thumbs up, it also comes with a lot of risky downside," Fragale told Business Insider. Getting loud generally isn't the best strategy As one of the world's richest men, Musk is uniquely insulated when airing grievances. The CEO of Tesla, Space X, and several other companies wields exceptional power and status, and being outspoken is part of his personal brand. For the rest of us, taking an offline, confidential approach to voicing discontent is generally best since it avoids embarrassing the recipient and inviting backlash, said Yale University management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. That's a lesson many big-company CEOs have used in recent weeks to push back against the president's significant tariff hikes. "They've managed through private collective action to get him to move considerably," said Sonnenfeld. "They went in with the facts. They didn't try to publicly humiliate him." Musk didn't call out Trump by name in his social-media posts criticizing the president's bill, which includes cuts to Medicaid and an extension of the tax cuts that Trump and Republicans enacted in 2017. His messages, though, land as a personal attack because Trump has been aggressively touting the bill, calling it "beautiful" and pushing for Congress to pass it. "It will be the biggest Tax Cut for Middle and Working Class Americans by far," Trump wrote on Truth Social last month. Musk has said that the bill will increase the nation's already bloated deficit, undermining the months of work he put in at the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. On Wednesday, Musk asked Americans to take action to try to stop the bill from passing. "Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL," he said on X. When and how to raise concerns In the workplace, career gurus generally advise people to only pipe up about concerns that impact multiple workers or a company at large. Personal grievances are best handled through a direct manager, human resources, or an employer's complaint hotline. "Not every truth needs to be said out loud," said Fragale. A collective voice creates legitimacy, which is why she also recommends gathering allies and having at least one by your side when you're ready to speak out. Consider whether you're the best person to raise the matter to someone at the top of the corporate ladder if you lack status or haven't earned the person's respect. "I have outsourced almost every aspect of my kids' education, not because I don't know how to swim or ride a bike, but because they won't listen to me," Fragale said. Meanwhile, keep in mind that you may not have all the facts as to why a superior made whatever decision you have beef with, said Bill George, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School. It's possible your criticism is unwarranted, so he recommends couching your critique as being based on what you know. "Sometimes CEOs have to make decisions for reasons that aren't apparent," George, who was CEO of the health-technology company Medtronic earlier in his career, said. "You have to understand the whole context." Only speak up to a superior when you have something meaningful to point out, said Candice Pokk, a senior consultant at human-resources consulting firm Segal. "It needs to rise to the level of their position," she said. Some business leaders say they are receptive to negative feedback as long as it's conveyed respectfully. When George was Medtronic's CEO, a manager privately told him that he'd hurt several employees' feelings during a group meeting. Though he stood by the substance of his remarks, he apologized for how he relayed them and said the feedback made him think differently about his communication style. "It caused me to reflect on it," he said. To share negative feedback, start with something positive and authentic about the individual before launching into critisicm, and keep it brief, Pokk said. "Executives want information that's bite-sized and easy to understand," she said. Dishing criticism to someone in a more powerful position can be nerve-racking, no matter how prepared and confident you are. "Couriers of bad tidings are often fearful that the messenger will get shot," said Sonnenfeld. Yet being forthcoming can pay off.
