Tesla's Good Quarter

Tesla's back on the menu, baby!

The world's most valuable car company became even more valuable this past week after it posted its quarterly results, and boy, they were something to marvel at.

The company's profits were up — by 17% from last year — while sales grew 8% when compared to the same period in 2023.

More importantly, not only did Elon Musk's company say that it was producing cars at their cheapest levels yet, but that it was producing them at record volumes. On top of that, Musk said it expected Tesla's vehicle sales to grow 20% to 30% next year as it introduces more affordable models in the first half of 2025.

Naturally, investors went crazy, and the company's stock recorded their biggest single-day gain in over a decade on Thursday — a day after the results were released — adding nearly $150 billion to the company's market value.

This couldn't have come at a better time for Musk as Wall Street was becoming increasingly concerned that Tesla was focusing a little too much on new projects like the robotaxi, away from its core business of selling electric cars.

In fact, when Tesla announced the robotaxi and the so-called Cybercab at its "We, Robot" event just a few weeks prior, its stock dropped around 9% — indicating investors' dislike of Musk's plan to transform Tesla into an artificial intelligence and robotics company.

Never the one to shy away from proving his naysayers wrong, Musk isn't giving up on the promise of offering autonomous transport at a "cost per mile below rideshare, personal car ownership and even public transit."

Some would argue that is a bold goal, while others would point to the long list of Musk's broken promises. I'm just wondering if Musk is trying to reinvent public transportation 😂

I'm not alone, since Tesla investors are also wondering how Musk plans to pull off his grand vision, with Reuters reporting that Musk's optimism on having driverless ride-hailing services in California and Texas next year is likely going to face an uphill battle due to regulatory and technical challenges.

One element that is not being discussed at all is of course Musk's relationship with Donald Trump. It's still too early to call who will win the elections, since both Trump and Kamala Harris are neck to neck, but if Trump were to become the next US president, Musk will benefit from it one way or the other.

Trump has, in recent days, praised Musk's SpaceX on at least two occasions: once at an event in Chicago hosted by Bloomberg, and the second during his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Musk has also been a part of Trump's campaign trail and has made numerous appearances during the Republican candidate's rallies, including the most recent one at Madison Square Garden. In fact, Trump has gone as far as to indicate he will appoint Musk as the head of a new government efficiency commission if he gets elected to office.

But there might be more at play here.

Trump has been very vocal about imposing tariffs on goods coming from foreign countries, including cars, due to a belief that it would generate jobs in America and boost the economy. Such a move would directly benefit Musk since Tesla can't compete against Chinese electric car makers, meaning any policy that makes them more expensive in the US would be a net positive for one of the world's richest men.

For now, Musk can bask in the glory of his company's quarterly win. As things heat up, I'll be around to report on it.

Tesla ranked #9 on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings this week.

In Other News.. 📰

• Bitcoin Has a Lot Going for It, Except the Persistent Slide in Copper-Gold Ratio — via CoinDesk
• Read AI raises $50M to capitalize on strong demand for its AI summary bot — via TechCrunch
• X changed its terms of service to let its AI train on everyone’s posts. Now users are up in arms — via CNN
• Microsoft's AI demand under scrutiny as investors seek payday — via Reuters
• Meta strikes multi-year AI deal with Reuters — via Axios
• How I turned ChatGPT into my tour guide in Italy — via CNBC

And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️

— Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon

*All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page.

Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon's proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here.