At the beginning of today’s earnings report, Elon Musk forecast an end to Tesla Inc.’s cash-burning days despite having blazed through another $1 billion last quarter, reports Bloomberg. But by the end, Musk was testily brushing off analysts’ concerns, saying they were asking “boring” questions. In response, Tesla stock dropped more than seven percent, to $279, in early trading Thursday. Bloomberg writes that the call proves Musk, 46, is willing to bite the hand that feeds him, by ridiculing representatives of Wall Street who were questioning how he was going to live up to his promise to build more Model 3 sedans and generate cash in the second half of the year. Musk called questions about these topics “so dry” and “not cool.”
“Sorry,” Musk said according to Bloomberg, “these questions are so dry. They’re killing me.” Musk cut off the analysts when they were asking about the company’s capital requirements and whether Tesla was retaining Model 3 reservation holders.
“The boring questions can also be categorized as the tough ones,” said Dave Sullivan, an analyst at AutoPacific Inc., to Bloomberg. “I hope the Tesla fans know how to swim, because without the answers to the tough questions, it looks like Musk is leading them straight into the water.”
So far, prospective Model 3 patrons have remained patient. Despite Tesla’s slow output, there are still more than 450,000 reservations holders waiting, and customer deposits keep rising. As of March 31, the total was approaching $1 billion.
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