- The Tesla CEO asserts he’s seeing a serious rebound in buyer curiosity for his EVs regardless of persistent proof on the contrary. “The inventory wouldn’t be buying and selling close to all-time highs if issues weren’t in fine condition,” he mentioned.
Tesla’s return to the elite membership of trillion-dollar market cap shares is all of the proof Elon Musk must persuade him the worst of the blowback over his political activism is over.
Talking on the Qatar Financial Discussion board on Tuesday, Musk dismissed issues over weak demand as a non-issue that journalists like Bloomberg interviewer Mishal Husain might fixate on however one which bullish buyers have been appropriate to disregard.
Weeks after Tesla reported deliveries tumbled 13% within the first quarter over an already weak interval the 12 months prior, Musk claimed volumes have “already turned around”. Initially content material to go away it at that, the Tesla CEO then justified his assertion after his curt, one-sentence reply didn’t fulfill Husain.
“We’ve lost some sales perhaps on the left, but we’ve gained them on the right. The sales numbers at this point are strong and we see no problem with demand,” the Tesla CEO mentioned. “The stock wouldn’t be trading near all-time highs if things weren’t in good shape, they’re fine, don’t worry about it.”
Tesla inventory is anticipated to open up Wednesday at round $345 a share, a major rebound from current lows round $214 however nonetheless considerably down from its December all-time excessive $488 share value.
Analysts have famous the inventory’s valuation a number of of 120x consensus 2026 earnings is initially an expression of confidence in its AI and robotics plans, slightly than its shrinking automotive enterprise. Market researcher DataTrek calls Tesla a “faith-based stock” in consequence, since a lot of the premium priced in is predicated on immature services like its Optimus robotic.
Tesla drops prediction of minimal 20% enhance in EV gross sales
Going into this 12 months, the Tesla CEO raised the bar on expectations on automotive gross sales significantly.
In October 2024 he predicted the model’s EV volumes would surge anyplace from 20% to 30% this 12 months. But in January the corporate quietly dropped the purpose fully, anticipating solely a “return to growth”.
Musk nonetheless repeated his claims in a separate interview with CNBC’s Faber on Tuesday: “We’ve seen a major rebound in demand at this point.”
Hello everybody. Right here’s the present Tesla supply outlook primarily based on the information up to now:
Q2 2025: Deliveries are anticipated to be between 350,000 and 395,000 models, down from 443,956 in Q2 2024. I’ll tweet my last estimate on June 30, two days earlier than Tesla stories the official numbers.…
— Troy Teslike (@TroyTeslike) Could 21, 2025
Barring the launch of any shock new fashions the general public has but seen, proof suggests Musk might be mistaken.
Weekly knowledge signifies the second quarter stays on observe for a 24% decline in China volumes, in response to the newest figures.
In Europe, the image is much more grim. Key markets like Germany noticed EV demand bounce by greater than half in April as extra prospects make the change to zero-emission driving. But volumes of Teslas within the nation plunged 46% over the earlier 12 months.
One other sharp decline in Q2 deliveries seemingly
If one have been to consider Musk, nevertheless, one could be satisfied the precise reverse could be true.
The Tesla CEO maintained its cratering gross sales within the area have been merely a mirrored image of a broader shopper malaise.
“That’s true of all manufacturers. There’s no exceptions. The European car market is quite weak,” he informed Bloomberg’s Husain.
This disparity between rising EV gross sales and drops in Tesla’s suggests Tesla has an issue with demand due to Musk’s political activism. The Tesla CEO’s verbal assurances it doesn’t prompted one supervisor to talk out lately, leading to his termination.
Troy Teslike, a Patreon account whose predictions are sometimes extra correct than most Wall Avenue analysts, on Wednesday issued his newest forecast for the model after monitoring Tesla’s real-time automobile manufacturing knowledge.
He believes the corporate is on observe to promote anyplace between 350,000 to 395,000 autos in Q2, one other sharp decline from the 444,000 delivered final 12 months.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com