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Business Insider
24 minutes ago
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Tesla's terrible quarter hasn't stopped analysts dreaming big about its robot future
Tesla just had its roughest quarter in at least a decade, but many investors and analysts are still dreaming big. Elon Musk's carmaker said on Wednesday that revenues plunged 12% year-over-year to $22.5 billion in the second quarter. Tesla's stock fell as much as 9% in early trading on Thursday morning on the disappointing earnings, its biggest fall since March. In a call with analysts, Elon Musk took a victory lap after Tesla finally launched its robotaxi service in Austin, predicting that the company's driverless ride-hailing service would cover half the US population by the end of the year. However, he also warned that Tesla could face "a few rough quarters," as it weathers shifting tariffs and the end of EV tax credits in the US. Despite the stock price fall, the reaction from Tesla investors and analysts suggests those who are more bullish on the automaker aren't overly concerned by these speed bumps and are looking toward Musk's promises of a trillion-dollar AI future. Nearly 45% of analysts who cover Tesla retain a buy rating for the automaker, while 31% have a neutral or hold recommendation, Bloomberg data seen by BI shows. Just under 25% have a sell rating on Tesla's stock. "The stock always remains a battle between what can be and what is," Joseph Spak, a US auto analyst for UBS, told BI via email. "Bulls will continue to look past valuation, look for evidence of AI progress and dream big," he added. Wedbush Securities analyst and longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a Thursday note that Tesla faces headwinds and "clear growth challenges" for the rest of the year. While Ives was cautious, he also said that Musk's return to working full-time at Tesla as a "wartime CEO" after his stint in politics was the "biggest and best possible news" for investors, with the EV giant now in a prime position to seize a piece of the "$1 trillion" robotaxi market. Tesla investor and Deepwater Asset Management partner Gene Munster wrote in a Wednesday blog post that investors had been disappointed not to hear more details about Tesla's robotaxi rollout in Austin, with executives not addressing when the company will remove its human safety monitors or open the service to the public. However, he said he still believed Tesla was in pole position to win the autonomy race, even with details about the company's next steps lacking. That position was echoed by analysts at financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, who wrote in a Thursday note that they remain "bullish" on Tesla due to the robotaxi expansion and the company's Optimus robot beginning high-volume production in 2026. 'A battle between what can be and what is' Amid those heady dreams of a glorious robot future, Tesla's present looks decidedly less rosy, with sales of its EVs underwhelming so far this year. The company reported its second consecutive decline in year-over-year deliveries earlier this month, as it faces rising competition and brand damage from Musk's forays into US politics. As Musk warned on the earnings call, things are likely to get worse before they get better. Analysts for investment firm William Blair said that the market for zero-emission regulatory credits, which bought in $439 million for Tesla in the second quarter, is expected to be almost completely eliminated in the US by the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill. "We are entering a vulnerable time for Tesla, as near-term headwinds, like auto and energy demand, subsidy cuts, and tariffs, pressure financials in the crucial transition to the long-term vision of real-world AI and higher-margin products like robotaxi and Optimus," they wrote. In a research note published on Thursday, analysts for JPMorgan cut projections for Tesla's earnings per share for 2025 and 2026. Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, lowered its estimates for Tesla's sales and now estimates the automaker will see a 14% drop this year, with analyst Adam Jonas warning that it may take years for Tesla to make money on its new initiatives as it crosses the "chasm to autonomy." Spak, the UBS analyst, said the bank had cut its estimates for Tesla vehicle deliveries and earnings per share for 2026 due to the end of EV incentives and regulatory credits in the US. He added that the reveal that Tesla's upcoming "affordable model" was a cheaper Model Y variant could limit incremental demand. "However, at the same time, the vision of Tesla as the leading player in robotaxis and humanoids is in its infancy and the ventures are progressing," he said.
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
This startup says it's made ChatGPT for construction sites. Read the pitch deck it used to raise $40 million.
A New York startup that has built an AI agent for handling admin tasks in the construction industry has raised $40 million in funding. Trunk Tools takes unstructured construction industry data — such as documents, drawings, blueprints, and schedules — and turns it into structured datasets to feed into its AI. Construction workers can then ask the AI a question in layperson's language, such as, "Does this door require electricity?" and the AI provides an answer, along with the source material. "So it's a ChatGPT for your job site," Trunk Tools' CEO, Sarah Buchner, told Business Insider. In the last 18 months, Trunk Tools has rolled out AI agents that can autonomously handle entire workflows, such as scheduling and project tracking. Buchner told BI that the startup has built custom large language models because general-purpose AI struggles with construction data. "We trained multiple models completely from scratch from construction drawings, construction objects, room boundaries, and so on," Buchner said. The company mostly sells its software as a subscription service, but some of its newer AI agents are charged per business outcome. Its customers include Suffolk Construction, Gilbane, and DPR Construction. The 60-person company operates in the US and Canada. Buchner started her career as a carpenter with her dad at age 12 in a small village in Austria. She worked her way up in the construction industry to a group leader, then built a construction safety app and completed a Ph.D. in civil engineering and data science. Buchner compared Trunk Tools' placement of its AI specialists into its customers' organizations to manage behavioral change and adoption from the inside to what "Palantir does with forward-deployed engineering." Insight Partners led the startup's $40 million Series B round, which included participation from Redpoint Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Stepstone, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, and Prudence. It brings Trunk Tools' total funding to $70 million, which includes a $20 million Series A round in 2024. Buchner told BI that the startup plans to allocate about half of its fresh capital to product development and the other half to its go-to-market strategy. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck Trunk Tools used to raise its $40 million Series B. Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools Trunk Tools
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
This startup says it's made ChatGPT for construction sites. Read the pitch deck it used to raise $40 million.
Trunk Tools has closed a $40 million funding round for its construction industry AI agents. The agents can handle admin tasks like scheduling and project tracking. BI got an exclusive look at the 19-page pitch deck the New York startup used to raise its Series B. Trunk Tools takes unstructured construction industry data — such as documents, drawings, blueprints, and schedules — and turns it into structured datasets to feed into its AI. Construction workers can then ask the AI a question in layperson's language, such as, "Does this door require electricity?" and the AI provides an answer, along with the source material. "So it's a ChatGPT for your job site," Trunk Tools' CEO, Sarah Buchner, told Business Insider. In the last 18 months, Trunk Tools has rolled out AI agents that can autonomously handle entire workflows, such as scheduling and project tracking. Buchner told BI that the startup has built custom large language models because general-purpose AI struggles with construction data. "We trained multiple models completely from scratch from construction drawings, construction objects, room boundaries, and so on," Buchner said. The company mostly sells its software as a subscription service, but some of its newer AI agents are charged per business outcome. Its customers include Suffolk Construction, Gilbane, and DPR Construction. The 60-person company operates in the US and Canada. Buchner started her career as a carpenter with her dad at age 12 in a small village in Austria. She worked her way up in the construction industry to a group leader, then built a construction safety app and completed a Ph.D. in civil engineering and data science. Buchner compared Trunk Tools' placement of its AI specialists into its customers' organizations to manage behavioral change and adoption from the inside to what "Palantir does with forward-deployed engineering." Insight Partners led the startup's $40 million Series B round, which included participation from Redpoint Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Stepstone, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, and Prudence. It brings Trunk Tools' total funding to $70 million, which includes a $20 million Series A round in 2024. Buchner told BI that the startup plans to allocate about half of its fresh capital to product development and the other half to its go-to-market strategy. Trunk Tools pitch deck slides Trunk Tools Series B funding pitch deck slide Trunk Tools Series B funding pitch deck slide Trunk Tools Series B funding pitch deck slide Trunk Tools Series B funding pitch deck slide
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Business Insider
A day in the life of Mark Cuban: He reveals his productivity hack — and how everyone can use it
One of our biggest series this year is Power Hours, an inside look at the daily routines of top executives, founders, and creatives across industries. We want to understand what makes these people tick: why one wakes up at 4:15 a.m. to hydrate and meditate, another runs a 10K after arriving at the office, and a third moonlights as a Lyft driver. BI's Power Hours series gives readers an inside look at how powerful leaders in business structure their workday. See more stories from the series here, or reach out to the editor Lauryn Haas to share your daily routine. When we reached out to Mark Cuban, we figured he'd be ripe for this series — a billionaire who has founded several companies, invested in hundreds of small businesses, and hosted the popular TV show " Shark Tank." His response: "My day is boring." "I read and respond to emails," he wrote in an email. "I work out. I read and respond to emails. I do a couple Zooms. Then I read and respond to emails. Then I eat dinner. Then I read and respond to emails." (To be fair, he also shared that he follows his morning email session with decaf coffee, a cookie, and a shower, before taking his daughter to school, then working out at Life Time Fitness, taking a second shower — and returning to email.) This raises the question: Why is a billionaire spending most of his day in his inbox? What's so great about email? And why doesn't he hire an assistant to do all this emailing? We had to investigate. So we sent him more emails. Here's what he told us (via email). Mark Cuban: I receive around 700 emails a day and use three phones (two Android and one iPhone) to manage everything. I'd rather get 700 to 1,000 emails than sit in long, boring meetings. I can easily search them decades later. I have emails going back to the 90s. It's asynchronous. I can write or respond any time, from anywhere in the world. That makes things much easier. There's also really no limit to the type or format of the content. I can include it in emails or attach whatever. Everyone has email. In 2025, I don't know anyone who doesn't. It's fast. Particularly now, with Google's auto replies. For maybe 10 to 20% of my emails, I just have to choose one of Gmail's recommendations. If not, I can usually give very short responses. People expect them from me. How do you keep your inbox organized? Do you use filters, folders, or an email extension? I have folders. I used to have too many emails, and Gmail couldn't keep up, so I had to segregate them into different accounts. Now, that typically isn't an issue. I spend most of my day trying to get my unreads under 20. It acts as my tickler file and keeps what's important to me, right in front of me. Have you ever hired someone to help manage your email? If so, how did that go? If not, have you considered it? Never. That just slows things down. I started sending messages in the 1980s on CompuServe. It was fast and easy. For my company back then, I had everyone get an address. It worked great then, too. I still have a bunch of those folders with emails! Do you ever ignore your email (like on vacation)? Or do you always keep up with it? For a short period of time, sure. But for a full day or longer, only in extraordinary situations like a special event for a family member. I have a hard time disconnecting. It's faster to just get it out of the way. Do you like to achieve Inbox Zero? Won't ever happen. I get down under 10 now and then, but I also use my unreads as a reminder of what I need to get done today. Would you ever consider letting AI write your emails? Only the autoreply. Anything else, if I have a long response, I might use AI as a typing hack to save time, but I'm typically going to add some flavor somewhere. For a long, long time. Usually commenting that I'll respond or create emails at all hours of the day. Which is fact. If it comes to mind, I'm writing and sending. Or if the only time I have to clean up my inbox is after everyone is in bed, that's when I'll work.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Billionaire Mark Cuban on how his day is like: My day is boring, I just read and ...
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has shared that his daily routine is not that glamorous. He described his daily routine as 'boring' and is mainly dominated only by one task: reading and responding to emails. In an interview with Business Insider, Cuban revealed that his boring routine is a deliberate strategy which helps him in increasing productivity and staying ahead. Cuban also added that he prefer email over meetings, calls or Slack messages. He revealed that he handles around 700 to 1000 emails in a day across three phones. Billionaire Mark Cuban reveals his daily routine Talking to Business Insider, Billionaire Mark Cuban revealed that his daily routine is not at all exciting rather it's quite boring. 'I read and respond to emails," he wrote in an email. "I work out. I read and respond to emails. I do a couple Zooms. Then I read and respond to emails. Then I eat dinner. Then I read and respond to emails,' Cuban told BI. He revealed that his day starts with a decaf coffee and a cookie. He then takes her daughter to school and after that he works out at Life Time Fitness. Once done with the fitness regimen he again dives into his inbox. Despite his wealth, Cuban refuses to hire an assistant to manage his email, saying it would only 'slow things down.' 'I receive around 700 emails a day and use three phones (two Android and one iPhone) to manage everything. I'd rather get 700 to 1,000 emails than sit in long, boring meetings,' Cuban told BI. He emphasised that emails work for him because they come with searchable history. He also use Gmail's auto-replies for 10–20% of messages. Cuban also mentioned that that in order to stay focused he keeps the unread emails under 20. Cuban rarely disconnects from email—even on vacation. 'It's faster to just get it out of the way,' he said. Only family events or emergencies prompt him to step away from his inbox for more than a few hours. While some may find his routine monotonous, Cuban sees it as a strategic advantage. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
