Episode summary
Tesla's Vehicles Sales Have Investors Feeling Optimistic | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence
· · Hosts: Paul Sweeney, Norah Mulinda · Guests: Pierre Ferragu, Matt Winkler, John Butler, Jeffrey Palma
Summary
Tesla’s latest delivery report was weaker year over year, with deliveries down 13%, but the market reaction was more muted because the result beat some of the most bearish expectations. The host and a guest from New Street Research said the U.S. was the main upside surprise, helped by the Model Y, yet the core auto business still looks strained: margins are in the low teens, demand has softened in Europe, and the current product lineup may be close to saturated. The guest argued Tesla will need lower-priced vehicles to sustain growth and that the brand and broader EV demand remain headwinds.
The discussion then shifted to why Tesla’s valuation still dominates. A guest said the stock is increasingly being driven by expectations for robotaxi deployment rather than vehicle sales, and another guest argued the company’s scale, profitability potential, and autonomous-driving optionality explain why critics may be missing the bigger picture. The segment also noted that Tesla’s stock has been volatile, while the company remains a major market-cap leader.
Later, Bloomberg Intelligence’s telecom analyst described a hyper-competitive wireless market where cable operators are taking share and carriers are leaning on price increases, broadband, and fixed wireless to grow. A Cohen & Steers executive then said real assets such as REITs, infrastructure, and commodities remain attractive, with open-air shopping centers, data centers, and multifamily standing out more than office.
Key takeaways
- Tesla’s deliveries fell 13% year on year, but the miss was less severe than feared because U.S. Model Y demand beat expectations.
- A New Street Research guest said Tesla’s auto business is still struggling, with gross margins in the low teens and Europe down almost 40% year on year.
- The stock narrative is shifting toward robotaxi deployment, which a guest said could matter more than the auto business going forward.
- Bloomberg Intelligence’s telecom analyst said wireless competition is hyper-competitive, with cable operators now taking as much as half of quarterly net ads.
- A Cohen & Steers executive said REITs look fairly valued, with open-air retail, data centers, and multifamily more attractive than office.
Notable quotes
“the US bit um beat expectations. So that's a model Y coming in doing actually quite well”
“We are down 13% year on year. So so we we are facing a situation where Tesla is struggling to sell cars”
“what tends to really move the stock is actually the news flow around how the company uh is now focused on deploying fleets of robo taxes”
“open air retail uh looks a little bit better. In listed markets, we favored things like multif family homes”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10 a.m.
Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube. All right, we've been talking a lot about Tesla this morning.
Their delivery numbers uh came in weaker than expected. We had Dan Ies from Wed Bush Securities on uh earlier and he was just saying, "Hey, relative to maybe the whisper number. They came in a little bit better than expected here.
Let's get the broad overview of what's happening at our good friends at Tesla. Stock's up about 2.8% today, but it's down about 24% year-to date. We turn to uh Pierre Fareru, head of global technology infrastructure at New Street Research.
Pierre, thanks so much for joining us here. H how do you think about uh these Tesla numbers? What does it mean for the for the near and intermediate term story at Tesla?
Yes, as you say, there is a bit of a positive surprise like people tracking very precisely deliveries in various markets were expecting slightly lower numbers. The surprise comes from the US. Um um the US did is a place where it's the most difficult to track the number of Tesla being delivered and the US bit um beat expectations.
So that's a model Y coming in doing actually quite well. Um that's good. But then at the at the end of the day, you have to remember the big picture.
We are down 13% year on year. So so we we are facing a situation where Tesla is struggling to sell cars. Uh gross margin is is in the low teens.
Uh to me Tesla facing good demand should be able to defend like mid mid20s gross margin.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- tesla vehicle sales
- ai narrative for tesla critics
- telecom wireline sales decline
- market outlook
- cannibalization by tech shift
Companies and tickers mentioned
- TSLA
- T
- VZ
- CNS
- Tesla
- AT&T
- Verizon
- Cohen & Steers
- New Street Research
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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