Tesla Stock Split and More: What Retail Investors Want to Know From Elon Musk and Team on Wednesday’s Quarterly Call

Tesla Stock Split and More: What Retail Investors Want to Know From Elon Musk and Team on Wednesday’s Quarterly Call
A driver recharges the battery of his Tesla car at a Tesla Super Charging station in a petrol station on the highway in Sailly-Flibeaucourt, France, on Jan. 12, 2019. Pascal Rossignol/File Photo/Reuters
Benzinga
Updated:

Tesla, Inc., is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday. Following the earnings release, the company’s management will host an earnings call at 5:30 p.m. ET on the same day.

The quarter assumes importance because of the buzz surrounding it, especially in relation to the input price inflation set in motion by the Ukraine-Russia war and the COVID-19-related shutdown in China.

Tesla uses Say Technologieswhich provides a platform for public companies to engage with their investors—to collect questions that would be addressed on the earnings call.

For the first-quarter earnings call, shareholders are allowed to submit questions until 4:30 p.m. ET.

Here are a few questions that have received the highest number of upvotes as of the time of writing:

Stock-Split Ratio:

The most upvoted of all the questions posed so far is whether the company has zeroed in on a ratio for a potential stock split. This question had 6,900 upvotes.

In late March, the company filed an 8-K with the SEC, saying it would seek shareholder approval for increasing the authorized share capital to allow for a stock split.

Tesla previously implemented a stock split in Aug. 2020, with the company opting to go with a five-for-one ratio at the time.

Raw Material Crunch:

The second most upvoted question is on the company’s plan to secure raw materials required to scale to extreme size. This has received 5,900 upvotes. The Ukraine-Russia war has thrown the production plan of most automakers into disarray—rendering raw materials scarce and pricier. Tesla had to raise retail vehicle prices multiple times this year to pass the higher costs to consumers.

Construction Team’s Plan:

Shareholders are also keen to know whether Tesla’s construction team is focusing on the expansion of existing Giga factories or setting up new ones. They seem to have on their wish list an announcement regarding a new factory before the release of the next model.
Related Link: Analyst Details Tesla’s Giga Shanghai Reopening Plans: Here’s How It Works

Long-Term Goal:

Then there was a generic question on the company’s goal, five years down the line.

Robotaxis:

Shareholders also showed interest in learning when Tesla will share more details on the Robotaxis that CEO Elon Muskannounced at the Cyber Rodeo event. They seem to want to know if it is something that people can own or whether this will be offered by Tesla as a service.

Recently, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest updated its price target for Tesla shares to $4,600 by 2026. Analysts at the firm said about 60 percent of the expected value and more than half of the expected EBITDA in 2026 would come from the Robotaxi business.

These most upvoted questions were all from retail investors.

Among the questions fielded by institutions, the ones that received the maximum upvotes are on:
  • Musk’s long-term commitment to Tesla and whether he is willing to sell Tesla stock to fund other ventures
  • The rate at which Gigas Berlin and Austin are expected to ramp relative to Giga Shanghai
  • Tesla shares are trading down 3.66 percent to $985 in premarket trading on Monday.
Related Link: Tesla Does An Apple By Opting to Leave This Accessory Out As Standard Feature; Elon Musk Explains Why
By Shanthi Rexaline
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