Don’t hold your breath waiting for Tesla Inc‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) much-hyped Optimus humanoid robot, as skepticism arises post-earnings report, with an analyst questioning its viability and existence.
Gordon Johnson, analyst at GLJ Research, was talking on Benzinga’s PreMarket Prep about Tesla’s underwhelming earnings report, delivered on Wednesday after the market close.
When asked about the company’s recent unveiling of a humanoid robot, he said: “We now know it was a fake – there was a guy out of shot on the video controlling it – Where are we at with humanoids? I don’t think it’s ever coming.”
He added: “Elon Musk comes up with a lot of these products that are years out, but he doesn’t execute on them. It’s not like he promises and delivers late, he doesn’t deliver at all — but there’s always this carrot that he puts out there.”
Also Read: Tesla’s Next-Gen Vehicle: What We Learned From Q4 Earnings Call
Weaker Demand For EVs
It’s worth noting that Johnson is an outspoken Tesla critic, and he was more downbeat on Tesla’s earnings than most, even though the results were in-line with his bearish expectations.
The key point to note from Tesla’s results, Johnson said, was that in previous reports the company had said it would grow 50% annually, which it removed from the current statement following growth of just 37%. Other key indicators to watch, he added, were falling margins and increasing tax rates.
When asked whether slowing consumer activity was a headwind for Tesla in 2024, Johnson answered, “No – that’s just something Elon Musk is saying to shield himself from weak demand for Tesla cars specifically.”
“Demand for internal combustion engine cars is still strong – demand for cars that people want is still strong. The reason why investors are exiting the EV space is simple: it’s because they’re not profitable.”
“Think about this – Telsa’s net margin in Q4 was 7.9% — they just told you their tax rate is going from 8% to 25% — and they’ve already done a price cut in 2024 of 5%. They are now a profitless EV manufacturer,” Johnson said.
He cited the examples of carmakers such as Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Volkswagen (OTC:VWAGY) pulling back billions of dollars they’d planned to invest in electric…
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