I’d like to share some background on this idea of having a long-term investor rep interview Elon (and/or other management) on a regular basis.
The idea originated back in May 2013 when I started to feel at a disadvantage compared to some institutions who seemed privy to certain information.
In May 2013 I read about Goldman Sachs meeting with Tesla management (
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Envisions Selling Around 500K Units: Long Term). It appears that Goldman Sachs was given information regarding long-term goals and product numbers, specific manufacturing improvement, production ramp info, demand info and battery cost projections. Although the article summarized key information, it didn’t provide the specific color that I would have hoped for and I was left feeling like an investor excluded from key information needed. In this situation since specific numbers were shared, I felt like an audio recording of the meeting should have been released publicly. Or at least long-term investors (or a representative) should have been given an opportunity to discuss the projections and numbers shared.
It left me thinking: what other information am I missing out on that the institutions have access to?
In March 2014, I read that Barclays had hosted some investor meetings with Tesla across Europe (
Barclays On Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) European Expansion). In the published article they briefly noted some projected battery costs estimates. However, later I was able to read Barclays private report that they sent to their clients in which they go into further detail regarding the content of the meetings in Europe (note: this report was not available to retail investors who were not clients of Barclays). Here are a few examples of some times shared in the report available only to Barclays clients:
- "Tesla believes that battery cost of $100-150/kWh is the point where total powertrain cost could be equal to or lower than luxury ICE OEMs when taking into account that Tesla spends less on energy conversion (i.e., motors, gears)."
- "Tesla reiterated that its production ramp for Models S/X is weighted toward the back half of 2014 as it adds a second production line. The original line was sized for annual production of 40k units of Models S/X, but the new line allows for production of ~50k units/year."
- "Moreover, although some have questioned chemical supply constraints for the pack, Tesla noted that there is a large lithium mine in Nevada which can supply a large number of EVs, and similarly chemical supplier Rockwood noted that it expects to play a large role in lithium supply"
- "Although some of have raised concern that Tesla demand in the U.S. has stalled, Tesla pointed out that it has held back on spurring demand – i.e. it has withheld marketing and opening store locations.”
Again these are just a few examples of what was shared in the private report but not available to the many retail investors who aren’t clients of Barclays. The lack of access to this information for retail investors (ie., investors on TMC) like myself puts us at a significant disadvantage regarding our investment position in TSLA compared to institutions who have access to such meetings with Tesla management. This is unfortunate because the some of TSLA’s retail investors are the biggest fans and owners of Tesla’s products (Roadster, Model S, X reservation).
On April 10, 2014 I read that Goldman Sachs met with Tesla management in Chicago/Denver (
http://www.streetinsider.com/Analys...+Goldman+Sachs+Citing+Management/9369354.html). While I was able to later email Investor Relations and get confirmation about the 700 cars/week number the article mentioned, still I felt at a disadvantage because the investor meetings were not recorded and publicly shared. Again, it felt like institutions had special access to Tesla management while us retail investors were left out.
As a long-term investor, I have the majority of my personal assets in TSLA stock and I plan to hold most my TSLA shares for the next 10-20 years. As a result, my focus in not on trying to guess the exact eps or revenue numbers of Tesla’s next quarter. Rather, my focus is trying to keep a pulse on the health of the company and its future plans. I want to know more about Tesla’s long-term plans, and I’d like to be able to have access to Tesla’s management like certain institutions have. Now I understand and accept that not every individual investor can realistically have access to Tesla’s management. However, I do think that if even retail investors can join together and pick a representative, then that representative could interface with Tesla management (ie., interview Elon or key executives on a regular basis) and provide all the recordings for all investors to have access to.
Currently it appears that analysts and media are the two main groups that have access to Tesla management. The reality about analysts is that they are serving their own clientele and often only share information with those clients who are part of their firm. Further, the long-term commitment to Tesla from many institutions/analysts is questionable at best. For media, often journalists might interview Elon or other management but their questions are usually surface level since the journalists aren’t full-time researching and thinking about just Tesla. For the long-term investor with a majority of their assets in TSLA, they are often thinking about TSLA every day and on a very deep level. We have questions that we’d love to get answered, but we don’t have access to Tesla management and the publicly available interviews and articles are not addressing our questions.
I think it would be a good idea for Tesla to set up a special channel where a representative from TMC (representing long-term investors) could interview Tesla management once every two months. The interview would only be 30 minutes and would be recorded and published for everyone to have access to. The nature of the interview would be a deep-dive into the many questions that long-term investors have. It would be great if Tesla could allow not just Elon to be interviewed, but JB Straubel, Chris Porritt, Jerome Guillen as well.
Now I think there could be other ways to give retail long-term investors more information and access to Tesla management. But I think it would be a great start for Tesla management to allow such interviews every 2 months. I for one will be very grateful, as it would make it immensely easier for me to keep tabs on the health of my long-term investment in TSLA.
- - - Updated - - -
A Google hangout would be a great idea. People could view it live or view the recording later.
