Tesla Still Has A Completely Absurd Diluted Market Cap

Tesla Still Has A Completely Absurd Diluted Market Cap – Shortseller

Stanphyl Capital’s commentary for the month ended February 2022, discussing their short position in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

Get The Full Henry Singleton Series in PDF

Get the entire 4-part series on Henry Singleton in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or email to your colleagues

Q4 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

We remain short the biggest bubble in modern stock market history, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which despite this year’s nearly 18% dive still has a completely absurd diluted market cap of almost $1 trillion despite a steadily sliding share of the world’s EV market and a share of the overall auto market that’s less than 1.5% (yes, less than one POINT five percent). Here’s why we remain short:

Tesla has no “moat” of any kind; i.e., nothing meaningfully proprietary in terms of its electric car technology (which has now been surpassed by numerous competitors), while existing automakers—unlike Tesla—have a decades-long “experience moat” of knowing how to mass-produce, distribute and service high-quality cars consistently and profitably. Excluding working capital benefits and sunsetting emission credit sales Tesla generates negative free cash flow. Growth in sequential unit demand for Tesla’s cars is at a crawl relative to expectations. Elon Musk is a pathological liar who under the terms of his SEC settlement cannot deny having committed securities fraud.

Tesla's Q4 Results

In January Tesla reported results for Q4 2021 and once again proved that it’s a truly horrible business. Although the company claimed to have generated $2.8 billion in free cash flow for the quarter, that was almost entirely created by massively increased payables & accrued liabilities, and by stock-based compensation. After adjusting for those factors (and a tiny increase in receivables), Tesla’s free cash flow was just $119 million, and that undoubtedly included several hundred million dollars of previously earned & billed emission credit sales, a revenue stream which will almost entirely disappear next year as other automakers begin selling enough electric cars of their own. Thus, despite all the sell-side and media hype, on a sustainable basis Tesla’s free cash flow is still resoundingly negative.

Also in January Tesla reported Q4 deliveries of 308,000 cars, a 67,000-unit gain over Q3 that’s a rounding error for an auto company trading at even one-tenth of Tesla’s valuation. If in any quarter GM or VW or Toyota sold 2.067 million vehicles instead of 2 million or 1.933 million, no one would pay the slightest bit of attention to the difference. Seeing as Tesla is still being valued at over thirteen GMs, it’s time to start looking at its relatively tiny numerical sequential sales growth, rather than Wall Street’s sell-side hype of “percentage off a small base.” In other words, if you want to be valued at a giant multiple of “the big boys,” you should be treated as a big boy.

And for those of you who think that Tesla is “really an energy company,” in Q4 “Tesla Energy” had revenue of $688 million (down 8.5% year-over-year and 8% sequentially) and cost of revenue of $739 million, meaning it had a negative gross margin. So if Tesla is “really an energy company,” it’s even more screwed than if it’s just a car company!

Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest reason Tesla has recently been able to post marginally increasing sequential quarterly deliveries is because competitors’ production is at the lowest level in decades due to the massive chip shortage, thereby eliminating a number of “Tesla alternatives.” Yet Tesla is enjoying record production because Musk (a notorious “corner-cutter”) is apparently willing to either substitute untested, non-auto-grade chips for the more durable chips he can’t get (please see my Twitter post about this) or simply eliminate entire crucial safety systems such as back-up steering and crash-avoidance radar.

The Expectations Of Tesla Bulls

Meanwhile, many Tesla bulls sincerely believe that ten years from now the company will be twice the size of Volkswagen or Toyota, thereby selling around 21 million cars a year (up from the current run-rate of around 1.2 million). To illustrate how utterly clueless this is, going from 1.2 million cars a year today to 21 million in ten years means Tesla would have to add a brand new 500,000 car/year factory with sold out production EVERY single quarter for ten years!

To do this even in twenty years would require adding a new factory with sold out production every six months, at which point Tesla would then be approximately twice the size of Toyota (current market cap: $252 billion) or Volkswagen (current market cap: $111 billion), making a Tesla twenty times its current size worth perhaps $500 billion in twenty years. If you discount that $500 billion back by 15% a year (which is likely a much smaller return than any Tesla bull expects) for twenty years, you get a net present value for Tesla stock of approximately $30 a share, down nearly 97% from January’s closing price. That’s why when idiot Tesla bulls look at the company’s current large trailing percentage growth from its recent tiny base and extrapolate that into the future they’re being, well… idiots!

A favorite hype story from Tesla bulls has been “the China market” and its “record” number of 116,000 Q4 deliveries there vs. 73,659 in Q3. However, not only was this (again) a growth rounding error, but much of that gain was almost certainly comprised of “pull forward” sales due to a 30% subsidy cut beginning in January. And even that “big” Q4 number gave Tesla only around 1.5% of the overall passenger vehicle market and just 11% of the BEV market.

Meanwhile Tesla continues to sell its fraudulent & dangerous so-called “Full Self Driving.” In a sane regulatory environment Tesla having done this for five years now…

…would be considered “consumer fraud,” and indeed the regulatory tide may finally be turning, as two U.S. senators continue to question its safety and in October the NHTSA appointed a harsh critic of this deadly product to advise on its regulation. (For all known Tesla deaths see here.) Are major write-downs and refunds on the way, killing the company’s slight “claimed profitability”? Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, Guidehouse Insights continues to rate Tesla dead last among autonomous competitors:

Another favorite Tesla hype story has been built around so-called “proprietary battery technology.” In fact though, Tesla has nothing proprietary there—it doesn’t make them, it buys them from Panasonic, CATL and LG, and it’s the biggest liar in the industry regarding the real-world range of its cars. And if new-format 4680 cells enter the market some time in 2024 (as is now expected), even if Tesla makes some of its own, other manufacturers will gladly sell them to anyone.

Meanwhile, Tesla build quality remains awful (it ranks second-to-last in the latest Consumer Reports reliability survey) and its worst-rated Model Y faces current (or imminent) competition from the much better built electric Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW iX3, Mercedes EQB, Volvo XC40 Recharge, Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Mustang Mach E, Nissan Ariya, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. And Tesla’s Model 3 now has terrific direct “sedan competition” from Volvo’s beautiful Polestar 2, the great new BMW i4 and the premium version of Volkswagen’s ID.3 (in Europe), plus multiple local competitors in China.

And in the high-end electric car segment worldwide the Audi e-tron (substantially improved for 2022!) and Porsche Taycan outsell the Models S & X (and the newly updated Tesla models with their dated exteriors and idiotic shifters & steering wheels won’t change this), while the spectacular new Mercedes EQS, Audi e-Tron GT and Lucid Air make the Tesla Model S look like a fast Yugo, while the extremely well reviewed new BMW iX does the same to the Model X.

And oh, the joke of a “pickup truck” Tesla previewed in 2019 (and still hasn’t shown in production-ready form) won’t be much of “growth engine” either, as it will enter a dogfight of a market; in fact, Ford’s terrific 2022 all-electric F-150 Lightning now has over 200,000 retail reservations (plus many more fleet reservations), GM has introduced its fantastic 2023 electric Silverado with over 110,000 reservations and Rivian’s pick-up has gotten excellent early reviews.

Regarding safety, as noted earlier in this letter, Tesla continues to deceptively sell its hugely dangerous so-called “Autopilot” system, which Consumer Reports has completely eviscerated; God only knows how many more people this monstrosity unleashed on public roads will kill despite the NTSB condemning it. Elsewhere in safety, in 2020 the Chinese government forced the recall of tens of thousands of Teslas for a dangerous suspension defect the company spent years trying to cover up, and now Tesla has been hit by a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. for the same defect. Tesla also knowingly sold cars that it knew were a fire hazard and did the same with solar systems, and after initially refusing to do so voluntarily, it was forced to recall a dangerously defective touchscreen. In other words, when it comes to the safety of customers and innocent bystanders, Tesla is truly one of the most vile companies on Earth. Meanwhile the massive number of lawsuits of all types against the company continues to escalate.

So Here Is Tesla’s Competition In Cars...

(note: these links are regularly updated)

Porsche Taycan Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo Porsche Macan Electric SUV Officially Coming in 2023 Volkswagen ID.3 Headlines VW's Electrified Future Volkswagen ID.4 Electric SUV Volkswagen ID.Buzz electric van teased ahead of 2022 launch Volkswagen ID 6 to arrive with 435-mile range in 2023 Volkswagen Aero B Tesla Model 3 Rival Spied With Less Camouflage VW’s Cupra brand counts on performance for Born EV Cupra, VW brand to get entry-level battery-powered cars Audi e-tron Audi e-tron Sportback Audi E-tron GT Audi Q4 e-tron Audi Q6 e-tron confirmed for 2022 launch Audi previews long-range A6 e-tron EV Audi TT set to morph into all-electric crossover Hyundai Ioniq 5 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Will Be a Slick-Looking EV Sedan Hyundai Kona Electric Genesis reveals their first EV on the E-GMP platform, the electric GV60 crossover Genesis Electrified GV70 Revealed With 483 Horsepower And AWD Kia Niro Electric: 239-mile range & $39,000 before subsidies Kia EV6: Charging towards the future Kia EV4 on course to grow electric SUV range Jaguar’s All-Electric i-Pace Jaguar to become all-electric brand; Land Rover to Get 6 electric models Daimler will invest more than $47B in EVs and be all-electric ready by 2030 Mercedes EQS: the first electric vehicle in the luxury class Mercedes EQS SUV takes shape

Mercedes-Benz unveils EQE electric sedan with impressive 400-mile range

Mercedes EQE SUV to rival BMW iX and Tesla Model X Mercedes EQC electric SUV available now in Europe & China Mercedes-Benz Launches the EQV, its First Fully-Electric Passenger Van Mercedes-Benz EQB Makes Its European Debut, US Sales Confirmed Mercedes-Benz unveils EQA electric SUV with 265 miles of range and ~$46,000 price Ford Mustang Mach-E Available Now Ford F-150 Lightning electric pick-up available 2022 Ford set to launch ‘mini Mustang Mach-E’ electric SUV in 2023 Ford’s Lincoln brand to launch full slate of electric SUVs by 2026 Volvo Polestar 2 Polestar 3 SUV Production Design Revealed. The US-built electric SUV will debut in 2022. Volvo XC40 Recharge Volvo C40 electric sedan to challenge Tesla Model 3, VW ID3 Polestar 3 will be an electric SUV that shares its all-new platform with next Volvo XC90 Chevrolet Bolt sedan, 259-mile range starting at $31,000 Chevrolet Bolt EUV electric crossover Cadillac All-Electric Lyriq Available Spring 2022 GMC 2022 ALL-ELECTRIC SUPERTRUCK HUMMER EV GM’s 2023 electric Silverado pickup truck GMC to launch electric Hummer SUV in 2023 GM announces electric versions of the 2023 Chevy Equinox & Blazer SUVs starting @ $30,000 GM Launches BrightDrop to Electrify the Delivery of Goods and Services BMW leads off EV offensive with iX3 BMW expands EV offerings with iX tech flagship and i4 sedan BMW i7 Confirmed for 2022 Launch 2022 BMW iX1 electric SUV spied Renault-Nissan alliance plows $26B into EV blitz- will jointly launch 35 new EVs Nissan vows to hop back on EV podium with Ariya Nissan LEAF e+ with 226-mile range is available now Nissan Unveils $18 Billion Electric-Vehicle Strategy Renault upgrades Zoe electric car as competition intensifies Renault Dacia Spring Electric SUV Renault to boost low-volume Alpine brand with 3 EVs Renault's electric Megane will debut new digital cockpit Stellantis promises 'heart-of-the-market SUV' from new, 8-vehicle EV platform Chrysler to go all-EV by 2028 Alfa Romeo's First Electric Car Will Arrive in 2024 Peugeot e-208 PEUGEOT E-2008: THE ELECTRIC AND VERSATILE SUV Peugeot 308 will get full-electric version Subaru shows off its first electric vehicle, the Solterra SUV Citroen compact EV challenges VW ID3 on price Rivian R1T Is the Most Remarkable Pickup We’ve Ever Driven Maserati to launch electric sports car Mini Cooper SE Electric Toyota’s Electric bZ4X Goes On Sale in Spring 2022 Toyota will have lineup of 30 full EVs by 2030; Lexus will be all-electric brand Opel sees electric Corsa as key EV entry 2021 Vauxhall Mokka revealed as EV with sharp looks, massive changes Skoda Enyaq iV electric SUV offers range of power, battery sizes Electric Skoda Enyaq coupe to muscle-in on Tesla Model 3 Skoda plans small EV, cheaper variants to take on French, Korean rivals Nio to launch in five more European countries after Norway BYD will launch electric SUV in Europe The Lucid Air Achieves an Estimated EPA Range of 517 Miles on a Single Charge Bentley will start output of first full EV in 2025 All-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre to launch in 2023 – firm to be EV-only by 2030 Aston Martin will build electric vehicles in UK from 2025 Meet the Canoo, a Subscription-Only EV Pod Coming in 2021 Two new electric cars from Mahindra in India; Global Tesla rival e-car soon Former Saab factory gets new life building solar-powered Sono Sion electric cars Foxconn aims for 10% of electric car platform market by 2025

And in China…

How VW Group plans to dominate China's EV market VW Goes Head-to-Head With Tesla in China With New ID.4 Crozz Electric SUV Volkswagen’s ID.3 EV to be produced by JVs with SAIC, FAW in 2021 2022 VW ID.6 Revealed With Room For Seven And Two Electric Motors China-built Audi e-tron rolls off production line in Changchun Audi Q2L e-tron debuts at Auto Shanghai Audi will build Q4 e-tron in China Audi Q5 e-tron Confirmed For China Audi in cooperation company for local electric car production with FAW FAW Hongqi starts selling electric SUV with 400km range for $32,000 FAW (Hongqi) to roll out 15 electric models by 2025 BYD goes after market left open by Tesla with four cheaper models for budget-conscious buyers BYD said to launch premium NEV brand ‘Dolphin’ in 2022 Top of Form Bottom of Form Daimler & BYD launch DENZA electric vehicle for the Chinese market Geely announces premium EV brand Zeekr Geely, Mercedes-Benz launch $780 million JV to make electric smart-branded cars Mercedes styled Denza X 7-seat electric SUV to hit market Mercedes ‘makes mark’ with China-built EQC BMW, Great Wall to build new China plant for electric cars BAIC Goes Electric, & Establishes Itself as a Force in China’s New Energy Vehicle Future BAIC BJEV, Magna ready to pour RMB2 bln in all-electric PV manufacturing JV Toyota partners with BYD to build affordable $30,000 electric car Ford MUSTANG MACH-E ROLLS OFF ASSEMBLY LINE IN CHINA FOR LOCAL CUSTOMERS Lexus to launch EV in China taking on VW and Tesla GAC Aion about to start volume production of 1,000-km range AION LX GAC Toyota to ramp up annual capacity by 400,000 NEVs GAC kicks off delivery of HYCAN 007 all-electric SUV Nio – Ready For Tomorrow Nio steps up plans for mass-market brand to compete with VW, Toyota Xpeng Motors sells multiple EV models SAIC-GM to build Ultium EV platform in Wuhan Chevrolet Menlo Electric Vehicle Launched in China Buick Introduces New VELITE 6 EV with Extended Range Buick Velite 7 EV And Velite 6 PHEV Launch In China Dongfeng launches the all-electric Voyah PSA to accelerate rollout of electrified vehicles in China SAIC, Alibaba-backed EV brand IM begins presale of first model L7 Hyundai Motor Transforming Chongqing Factory into Electric Vehicle Plant Polestar said to plan China showroom expansion to compete with Tesla Jaguar Land Rover's Chinese arm invests £800m in EV production Renault reveals series urban e-SUV K-ZE for China Renault & Brilliance detail electric van lineup for China Renault forms China electric vehicle venture with JMCG Honda plans China EV plant to expand lineup Geely launches new electric car brand 'Geometry' – will launch 10 EVs by 2025 Geely, Foxconn form partnership to build cars for other automakers Fiat Chrysler, Foxconn Team Up for Electric Vehicles Baidu to create an intelligent EV company with automaker Geely Leapmotor starts presale of C11 electric SUV on Jan. 1 2021 Changan forms subsidiary Avatar Technology to develop smart EVs with Huawei, CATL WM Motors/Weltmeister Chery Seres Enovate China's cute Ora R1 electric hatch offers a huge range for less than US$9,000 Singulato JAC Motors releases new product planning, including many NEVs Seat to make purely electric cars with JAC VW in China Iconiq Motors Hozon Aiways Skyworth Auto Youxia CHJ Automotive begins to accept orders of Leading Ideal ONE Infiniti to launch Chinese-built EV in 2022 Human Horizons Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi to launch electric car business with $10 billion investment Lifan Technology to roll out three EV models with swappable batteries in 2021

Here’s Tesla’s Competition In Autonomous Driving...

Here’s Where Tesla’s Competition Will Get Its Battery Cells...

Panasonic (making deals with multiple automakers) LG Samsung SK Innovation Toshiba CATL BYD Volkswagen to Build Six Electric-Vehicle Battery Factories in Europe How GM's Ultium Battery Will Help It Commit to an Electric Future GM to develop lithium-metal batteries with SolidEnergy Systems Ford, SK Innovation announce EV battery joint venture BMW & Ford Invest in Solid Power to Secure All Solid-State Batteries for Future Electric Vehicles Stellantis, LG Energy Solution to form battery JV for N. American market Stellantis and Factorial Energy to Jointly Develop Solid-State Batteries for Electric Vehicles Toyota to build plant in N.C. capable of making up to 1.2M batteries a year Toyota Outlines Solid-State Battery Tech, $13.6 Billion Investment Nissan Announces Proprietary Solid-State Batteries Daimler joins Stellantis as partner in European battery cell venture ACC Renault signs EV battery deals with Envision, Verkor for French plants Nissan to build $1.4bn EV battery plant in UK with Chinese partner UK companies AMTE Power and Britishvolt plan $4.9 billion investment in battery plants Freyr Verkor Farasis Microvast Akasol Cenat Wanxiang Eve Energy Svolt Romeo Power ProLogium Hyundai Motor developing solid-state EV batteries Morrow

Here’s Tesla’s Competition In Charging Networks...

Infrastructure Bill: $7.5 billion Towards Nationwide Network of 500,000 EV Chargers Electrify America EVgo Chargepoint Ionity Europe Shell Plans To Deploy Around 500,000 Charging Points Globally By 2025 51 U.S. electric companies commit to build nationwide EV fast charging network by end of 2023 GM to distribute up to 10 chargers to each of its dealerships starting early 2022 Circle K Owner Plans Electric-Car Charging Push in U.S., Canada 191 U.S. Porsche dealers are installing 350kw chargers ChargePoint to equip Daimler dealers with electric car chargers Ford introduces 12,000 station charging network, teams with Amazon on home installation Petro-Canada Introduces Coast-to-Coast Canadian Charging Network Volta is rolling out a free charging network E.ON and Virta launch one of the largest intelligent EV charging networks in Europe Volkswagen plans 36,000 charging points for electric cars throughout Europe Smatric has over 400 charging points in Austria Allego has hundreds of chargers in Europe PodPoint UK charging stations BP Chargemaster/Polar is building stations across the UK Instavolt is rolling out a UK charging network Fastned building 150kw-350kw chargers in Europe Aral To Install Over 100 Ultra-Fast Chargers In Germany Deutsche Telekom launches installation of charging network for e-cars Total to build 1,000 high-powered charging points at 300 European service-stations NIO teams up with China’s State Grid to build battery charging, swapping stations Volkswagen-based CAMS launches supercharging stations in China Volkswagen, FAW Group, JAC Motors, Star Charge formally announce new EV charging JV BMW to Build 360,000 Charging Points in China to Juice Electric Car Sales BP, Didi Jump on Electric-Vehicle Charging Bandwagon Evie rolls out ultrafast charging network in Australia Evie Networks To Install 42 Ultra-Fast Charging Sites In Australia

And Here’s Tesla’s Competition In Storage Batteries...

Panasonic Samsung LG Energy Solutions BYD AES + Siemens (Fluence) GE Hitachi ABB Toshiba Saft Johnson Contols EnerSys SOLARWATT Sonnen Kyocera Generac Kokam Eaton Tesvolt Kreisel Leclanche Lockheed Martin Honeywell EOS Energy Storage ESS UET electrIQ Power Stem ENGIE Redflow Primus Power Simpliphi Power Invinity Murata Bluestorage Adara Blue Planet Aggreko Orison Moixa Powin Energy Nidec Powervault Kore Power Shanghai Electric LithiumWerks Natron Energy Energy Vault Ambri Voltstorage Cadenza Innovation Morrow Gridtential Villara Elestor Flexgen SolarEdge Q-Cells Huawei ADS-TEC Form Energy Enphase Sumitomo Electric Stryten Energy Freyr Growatt Polarium C4V

Thanks,

Mark Spiegel

Updated on Mar 2, 2022, 12:38 pm

Source valuewalk