Thoughts on earnings call.

[pricedm]

Are the Tesla shareholder votes counted to determine if Elon's new compensation package was approved?

11/6/2025 - https://www.tesla.com/2025shareholdermeeting

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[pricedm]

" • Tesla’s total FSD paid customer base is still only 12% according to the CFO. "

Very low adoption rate.

Another round of "buy FSD, get 0% financing" as was done with Cybertruck 2025Q2 should be offered. Possible FSD price decrease (yeah, not likely).

Getting FSD to >50% adoption rate would be a great goal for Tesla

 

[YDR37]

I just want to know who is going to be liable for accidents when FSD unsupervised is enabled. Is Tesla covering the insurance cost? It's technically them/their program driving right?

Right. If a manufacturer advertises a self-driving system as SAE Level 3 or above, then yes, they have to accept liability when the system is in operation.

Mercedes Drive Pilot is legal on highways in Germany, and it's now available on certain freeways in California and Nevada. It only works in good weather and in "moderate to heavy traffic with speeds under 40 MPH". But under those limited conditions, it's Level 3, and Mercedes assumes liability for accidents:

On certain highways, below 40 mph, a Drive Pilot-equipped S-Class or EQS will take control of the car's speed, steering, and brakes to move you along in traffic. But there's one key difference: Once you engage Drive Pilot, you are no longer legally liable for the car's operation until it disengages. You can look away, watch a movie, or zone out. If the car crashes while Drive Pilot is operating, that's Mercedes' problem, not yours.

There still has to be someone sitting in the driver's seat. That person can legally take eyes off the road and send text messages on his phone while Drive Pilot is operating. But he has to be ready to put down the phone and take over if Drive Pilot disengages. If he doesn't, then liability is back on the driver.

 

[YDR37]

Right. If a manufacturer advertises a self-driving system as SAE Level 3 or above, then yes, they have to accept liability when the system is in operation.

At Level 4 and above, there is no human "driver" -- there is ONLY the self-driving system. Any humans in the vehicle are only "passengers". And as passengers, they have no responsibility or liability for vehicle operation.

Waymo and Zoox are now operating Level 4 robotaxis in certain cities. Let's say you were riding in one and it gets into an accident. You were sitting in the back seat. Even if you were up front, the vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals that you could operate. There was literally nothing you could do to cause or prevent the accident, so you are not at fault. It's all on Waymo or Zoox (but they have deep pockets, as they are owned by Google and Amazon respectively).

The same would be true for a Tesla Cybercab, which will not have a steering wheel or pedals. You would just be a passenger, not a driver. Tesla would have to assume liability for any driving mishaps.

 

[Pops]

Are the Tesla shareholder votes counted to determine if Elon's new compensation package was approved?

My understanding is that he and his brother are voting on it this time around. Last time they abstained from voting on his pay package to prevent conflicts of interest. Not sure why its ok for them to vote this time.

Musk's vote virtually guarantees it will pass.

 

[Mikec3399]

What a disaster last night, Wall street hates Elon Musk. Numbers don't lie, He missed it, Profits are down way down.
Elon Promised a $39,990 CyberTruck, that's how Tesla got 2 million orders. i put down for $100 Twice to purchase one 2WD at $39,990 and one Cyberbeast. I have invested a lot in tesla; I got my 2024 FS Cyberbeast in June of 2024 because I as of Feb 28th, 2024, and shareholder of Record with more that 500 Shares was able to Cut the line. I currently Have over 2000 shares of Tesla stock,
I now Currently Have three 2024 Foundation Series Cyberbeasts. I am super heavily invested.
I had placed a sell limit order of half, 1000 share at $450 on last Thursday Oct 16, just to cover.
the stock rose on Monday to $449.88, Then the Tweets Came, and the stock has now hit $415 this morning.
last May 2024 Elon hinted at a Model 2 or Q a $25,000 Car, in an earnings report where is it?
Elon, give the world a $39,990 Affordable pickup truck as advertised, and screw Inflation, because in 5 years a 2WD drive does not got to $81,000, I have tried several times to purchase a 2WD, Out the door its $81,000, and the truck launched in April, stripped down, and in June it was removed. huge flop that we are hiding.
Sept ended the federal tax credit, of $7500, and no real plan to help. Tesla Launched 2 stripped down versions on the Model # and Model Y, this will be another Failure. The Model Y 3 rows of Seats will the next biggest selling car on the planet.

Elon hinted at a Cybertruck Platform 3 rows of seating SUV. to combat Rivian, good Idea, for a Family vehicle, just has to be affordable.

FSD 14 for Cybertruck, yep, its coming hopefully before the new year.
Actual Smart Summons, well, no release date for Cybertruck, I am told FSD 14.3
it may have it. and it may not, rear wheel steering is a huge software issue.

Optimus, is coming, 1 million robots, then 10 million, this will be delayed past 2026

CyberCab, still has problems, it's been a year since the Annual Shareholder meeting, when first previewed, in 2 markets, with front end issues. again, this is supposed to be the 25-30,000 car,
we shall see. I think it will debeau at $55,000

Power share, for Cybertruck, it's got some issues, the credits have dropped to $1,990
Powerwall, seems to be a bit expensive at $16,000 plus install at 5-8k, needs to be more affordable

Mega Pack, they are building!

tesla Semi, New Plant in Nevada, it's going to be a while before production can start.
not a lot of Orders coming in, and no Charging Stations to support in most markets.
currently mostly Out West. super stations need to be constructed; we need to look at the grid.

Tesla Super Charger V4 500 speed, not seeing any on the East coast, V3 well the closest i have ever seen is 250KV when I charge up and down the east coast. Infrastructure needs another look,

I am sure you have seen, in the past 18 months, all of the Non-Tesla Vehicle's at a Supercharging station. 18 months ago, I did not see any.
as more non tesla EVs park in a supercharger spot this will be the next hurdle.

Nura Link, no mentions, Tunnel Boring, no mentions,

Space X and Satellite deployments are up.

the US Govt opened the Moon Launch because Space X is slow on the refueling in space.
this could hurt Space X if another contractor comes in

As for Hardware 3 in older Tesla's, with FSD, it's an issue, will tesla extend a Credit for a new car, or will tesla force 3 years old Auto owners to buy a new car, Black Friday Sale!

FSD Subscriptions were up huge however we still have non-believers, or they love the monthly payment, people love monthly subscriptions.

4th 1/4 growth, Tesla needs huge incentives to move units, a lot of inventory was cleared in Sept, however, the factory is still building units weekly, in Mat we all saw the parking lots filled with inventory, most of that is gone, Just in time delivery is coming, order a tesla today, it will be delivered within a week, driven to your home with FSD

0% financing, needs to come back to boost sales, Free lifetime supercharging, Free Lifetime connectivity, November this needs to kick in, otherwise 450,000 units will never be sold in 4th Q

Jan 2026 might not be as robust for shareholders,
and don't get me started on the 2 compensation plans,
if Elon does not get them, he walks?
what?
he has 15% control and now wants and additional 12% Elon does not want the Board to oust him.
threating to walk is not the answer we are looking for.

just one man's opinion as a stockholder, and a proud Tesla owner

 

[REM]

What a disaster last night, Wall street hates Elon Musk. Numbers don't lie, He missed it, Profits are down way down.
Elon Promised a $39,990 CyberTruck, that's how Tesla got 2 million orders. i put down for $100 Twice to purchase one 2WD at $39,990 and one Cyberbeast. I have invested a lot in tesla; I got my 2024 FS Cyberbeast in June of 2024 because I as of Feb 28th, 2024, and shareholder of Record with more that 500 Shares was able to Cut the line. I currently Have over 2000 shares of Tesla stock,
I now Currently Have three 2024 Foundation Series Cyberbeasts. I am super heavily invested.
I had placed a sell limit order of half, 1000 share at $450 on last Thursday Oct 16, just to cover.
the stock rose on Monday to $449.88, Then the Tweets Came, and the stock has now hit $415 this morning.
last May 2024 Elon hinted at a Model 2 or Q a $25,000 Car, in an earnings report where is it?
Elon, give the world a $39,990 Affordable pickup truck as advertised, and screw Inflation, because in 5 years a 2WD drive does not got to $81,000, I have tried several times to purchase a 2WD, Out the door its $81,000, and the truck launched in April, stripped down, and in June it was removed. huge flop that we are hiding.
Sept ended the federal tax credit, of $7500, and no real plan to help. Tesla Launched 2 stripped down versions on the Model # and Model Y, this will be another Failure. The Model Y 3 rows of Seats will the next biggest selling car on the planet.

Elon hinted at a Cybertruck Platform 3 rows of seating SUV. to combat Rivian, good Idea, for a Family vehicle, just has to be affordable.

FSD 14 for Cybertruck, yep, its coming hopefully before the new year.
Actual Smart Summons, well, no release date for Cybertruck, I am told FSD 14.3
it may have it. and it may not, rear wheel steering is a huge software issue.

Optimus, is coming, 1 million robots, then 10 million, this will be delayed past 2026

CyberCab, still has problems, it's been a year since the Annual Shareholder meeting, when first previewed, in 2 markets, with front end issues. again, this is supposed to be the 25-30,000 car,
we shall see. I think it will debeau at $55,000

Power share, for Cybertruck, it's got some issues, the credits have dropped to $1,990
Powerwall, seems to be a bit expensive at $16,000 plus install at 5-8k, needs to be more affordable

Mega Pack, they are building!

tesla Semi, New Plant in Nevada, it's going to be a while before production can start.
not a lot of Orders coming in, and no Charging Stations to support in most markets.
currently mostly Out West. super stations need to be constructed; we need to look at the grid.

Tesla Super Charger V4 500 speed, not seeing any on the East coast, V3 well the closest i have ever seen is 250KV when I charge up and down the east coast. Infrastructure needs another look,

I am sure you have seen, in the past 18 months, all of the Non-Tesla Vehicle's at a Supercharging station. 18 months ago, I did not see any.
as more non tesla EVs park in a supercharger spot this will be the next hurdle.

Nura Link, no mentions, Tunnel Boring, no mentions,

Space X and Satellite deployments are up.

the US Govt opened the Moon Launch because Space X is slow on the refueling in space.
this could hurt Space X if another contractor comes in

As for Hardware 3 in older Tesla's, with FSD, it's an issue, will tesla extend a Credit for a new car, or will tesla force 3 years old Auto owners to buy a new car, Black Friday Sale!

FSD Subscriptions were up huge however we still have non-believers, or they love the monthly payment, people love monthly subscriptions.

4th 1/4 growth, Tesla needs huge incentives to move units, a lot of inventory was cleared in Sept, however, the factory is still building units weekly, in Mat we all saw the parking lots filled with inventory, most of that is gone, Just in time delivery is coming, order a tesla today, it will be delivered within a week, driven to your home with FSD

0% financing, needs to come back to boost sales, Free lifetime supercharging, Free Lifetime connectivity, November this needs to kick in, otherwise 450,000 units will never be sold in 4th Q

Jan 2026 might not be as robust for shareholders,
and don't get me started on the 2 compensation plans,
if Elon does not get them, he walks?
what?
he has 15% control and now wants and additional 12% Elon does not want the Board to oust him.
threating to walk is not the answer we are looking for.

just one man's opinion as a stockholder, and a proud Tesla owner

Do you take any vacations and unplug from things for a while? That was a massive list of the most negative thoughts anyone could muster.

Also, Tesla didn't receive 2,000,000 orders for the CT. They received deposits for reservations. After having the truck for a year, it's insane to me what $80K will get you. The truck is highly undervalued.

Also, If I was Elon I would have a super hard time even caring if I had to beg shareholders to vote *again* for me to receive due compensation.

 

[HaulingAss]

My understanding is that he and his brother are voting on it this time around. Last time they abstained from voting on his pay package to prevent conflicts of interest. Not sure why its ok for them to vote this time.

Musk's vote virtually guarantees it will pass.

Shareholder's vote virtually guarantees it will pass. Because the stock will take a big hit if it fails.

What kind of idiot shareholder would vote against a pay package that doesn't pay anything if the CEO can't make wild things happen that would increase the value of the shares 8X? The woke, anti-Elon crowd defies all reason and rationality. I wish every highly paid CEO was only paid if they did a great job.

Musk didn't need to abstain from voting the first time around, and he didn't. But the Board of Directors decided to only count votes from disinterested shareholders on Musk's pay package. Now there are more people than ever trying to get Tesla to fail, so I'm glad the BoD decided Musk's shares will count along with the rest of the shareholders. He is, after all, the biggest shareholder of all. He has a right to represent his shares.

 

[hemiarch]

Disagree. We need to stop promoting this fantasy that a healthy company is supposed to make profits every single quarter with perpetual, forever growth.

That type of model is absolutely unsustainable and unrealistic. I want to see Tesla continue to HEAVILY re-invest their revenue.

I completely agree with that. Tesla is in the middle of retooling itself across industries from a car company to a…whatever the hell optimus is company. That takes ambitious restructuring at every level and in my mind that equates to expensive. No matter how the books are made, I’d expect that to result in a smaller bottom line. If it didn’t, I might be concerned they weren’t doing enough to evolve.

 

[HaulingAss]

Bad news is that Tesla did not make a record amount of profit. This is not surprising though, everyone here should be able to recognize that the EV market is becoming increasingly competitive, and that Tesla's margins have fallen. And that goes double for China.

Your statements seem ill-informed. Tesla's net profit was down due to factors like higher costs, tariffs, restructuring, higher stock based compensation expenses, lower regulatory credit revenue, Supercharger and delivery center expansion, building out production facilities for Cybercab and Tesla Semi, and increased investment in AI computing and robotics. All of these costs bring down net profit.

That said, gross automotive profits broke $5 billion for the first time ever! And Tesla's free cash flow (operating cash flow less capex) hit nearly 4 billion dollars, also an all-time record. Quarter-end cash, cash equivalents and investments was $41.6B. The sequential increase of $4.9B was primarily the result of increased free cash flow

This bodes well for Tesla's continuing competitiveness globally in automotive. But that is the least important segment going forward. Last quarter Tesla deployed 12.5 gWh of energy storage, another all-time record and an insane growth of 81% from the comparable quarter last year. The future is energy storage, and AI robotics (in the form of robotaxis and humanoid robots).

These investments put a damper on profits, but profits were extremely robust considering all the future initiatives and the cost of growth. Investing in the future of Tesla is precisely why the shares are worth so much. How many other auto companies are spending this much of their profits on developing future non-automotive revenue streams?

It looks like the owners of the 124 million shares traded today, the day after the earning release, agree with me, with the shares up a cool $10 each. They must have liked the earnings report! Average daily volume is only 88 million shares.

 

[YDR37]

That said, gross automotive profits broke $5 billion for the first time ever!

Your statement seems ill-informed. Gross profits did break $5 billion, but that's including energy and services, not just automotive.

Tesla's 3Q 2025 financial statement (page 23) shows $21,205M of "total automotive revenues", and $17,590M of "total automotive cost of revenues", for a gross automotive profit of $3,615M, or about $3.6 billion. And that's not a record. For example, the 3Q 2024 number (from the same page) was about 4.0 billion.

The sequential increase of $4.9B was primarily the result of increased free cash flow

Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles in 3Q 2025. Yet they only produced 447,450 vehicles (page 6 of the financial statement). So Tesla sold about 50,000 more vehicles than they actually built, by drawing down inventory. Inventory fell from 24 days in 2Q 2025 to only 10 days in 3Q 2025 (as also shown on page 6).

Selling a lot more vehicles than you make is indeed an effective way to boost quarterly profits and cash flow. Unfortunately, this approach is not sustainable.

This bodes well for Tesla's continuing competitiveness globally in automotive

Tesla's vehicle sales peaked in 2023. They fell in 2024. They will fall again in 2025, despite the record deliveries in 3Q. We can check back on this when Tesla releases the 2025 total, in 90 days or so.

Two years of falling vehicle sales may not bode well for Tesla's continuing competitiveness globally in automotive -- especially given that overall EV sales grew during the same period.

But that is the least important segment going forward.

In 3Q 2026, the automotive segment was responsible for $3.6 billion out of Tesla's $5.05 billion gross profit. So in terms of gross profit, it was the most important segment. Going forward, I expect this to be the case in 4Q 2025 as well.

 

[REM]

Your statement seems ill-informed. Gross profits did break $5 billion, but that's including energy and services, not just automotive.

Tesla's 3Q 2025 financial statement (page 23) shows $21,205M of "total automotive revenues", and $17,590M of "total automotive cost of revenues", for a gross automotive profit of $3,615M, or about $3.6 billion. And that's not a record. For example, the 3Q 2024 number (from the same page) was about 4.0 billion.

Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles in 3Q 2025. Yet they only produced 447,450 vehicles (page 6 of the financial statement). So Tesla sold about 50,000 more vehicles than they actually built, by drawing down inventory. Inventory fell from 24 days in 2Q 2025 to only 10 days in 3Q 2025 (as also shown on page 6).

Selling a lot more vehicles than you make is indeed an effective way to boost quarterly profits and cash flow. Unfortunately, this approach is not sustainable.
Tesla's vehicle sales peaked in 2023. They fell in 2024. They will fall again in 2025, despite the record deliveries in 3Q. We can check back on this when Tesla releases the 2025 total, in 90 days or so.

Two years of falling vehicle sales may not bode well for Tesla's continuing competitiveness globally in automotive -- especially given that overall EV sales grew during the same period.

In 3Q 2026, the automotive segment was responsible for $3.6 billion out of Tesla's $5.05 billion gross profit. So in terms of gross profit, it was the most important segment. Going forward, I expect this to be the case in 4Q 2025 as well.

This argument make sense if you are adamant about thinking of Tesla as strictly an automotive company instead of an Energy/Ai company lol. I don't think you see the big picture here.

Tesla has already come out and said years ago that they will be massively scaling back individual car sales once autonomy takes off. And we are on the very cusp of that right now.

 

[YDR37]

Tesla has already come out and said years ago that they will be massively scaling back individual car sales once autonomy takes off. And we are on the very cusp of that right now.

Tesla has made their plan clear. But making a plan is one thing, execution is another.

To be fair, Tesla is delivering on the "scaling back individual car sales" part. No argument there. However, they have not (as yet) delivered on the "autonomy takes off" part. Their current goal for autonomy, as per this week's earnings call is:

We are expecting to have no safety drivers in at least large parts of Austin by the end of this year.

But even if that goal is achieved (which is not guaranteed), it's not going to replace the lost revenue from falling vehicle sales.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk (who is not known for pessimistic forecasts) warned of "a few rough quarters". The "rough" period is now here; it began on October 1.

Maybe Tesla will emerge from the "roughness" stronger than ever. It's possible. But it's not guaranteed.

 

[TS_Buffalo]

Your statement seems ill-informed. Gross profits did break $5 billion, but that's including energy and services, not just automotive.

Tesla's 3Q 2025 financial statement (page 23) shows $21,205M of "total automotive revenues", and $17,590M of "total automotive cost of revenues", for a gross automotive profit of $3,615M, or about $3.6 billion. And that's not a record. For example, the 3Q 2024 number (from the same page) was about 4.0 billion.

Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles in 3Q 2025. Yet they only produced 447,450 vehicles (page 6 of the financial statement). So Tesla sold about 50,000 more vehicles than they actually built, by drawing down inventory. Inventory fell from 24 days in 2Q 2025 to only 10 days in 3Q 2025 (as also shown on page 6).

Selling a lot more vehicles than you make is indeed an effective way to boost quarterly profits and cash flow. Unfortunately, this approach is not sustainable.
Tesla's vehicle sales peaked in 2023. They fell in 2024. They will fall again in 2025, despite the record deliveries in 3Q. We can check back on this when Tesla releases the 2025 total, in 90 days or so.

Two years of falling vehicle sales may not bode well for Tesla's continuing competitiveness globally in automotive -- especially given that overall EV sales grew during the same period.

In 3Q 2026, the automotive segment was responsible for $3.6 billion out of Tesla's $5.05 billion gross profit. So in terms of gross profit, it was the most important segment. Going forward, I expect this to be the case in 4Q 2025 as well.

This is not meant to be a sarcastic or rude comment to those who feel differently, but it is always legitimately weird to me that some people base their value of Tesla on how many cars they make. I haven't thought of Tesla as a car company for quite a while now.

 

[YDR37]

This is not meant to be a sarcastic or rude comment to those who feel differently, but it is always legitimately weird to me that some people base their value of Tesla on how many cars they make. I haven't thought of Tesla as a car company for quite a while now.

Tesla is involved with a lot of things, not just cars and trucks. But the cars and trucks are still a focus for some people, because:

(1) some people happen to like cars and trucks. For example, there's far more activity and interest here on cybertruckownersclub.com than at megapackownersclub.com, even though energy storage is a far more important part of Tesla's business than Cybertrucks.

(2) at this time, most of Tesla's profits still come from old-fashioned car and truck sales. So those sales fuel Tesla's ability to develop other products. If vehicle sales are down, that affects the company as a whole.

Everyone realizes that Tesla is not valued solely on "how many cars they make". A quick comparison of TSLA's market cap vs. those of traditional automakers makes that very clear.

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