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In the wake of its disastrous Q4 2023 earnings call, Tesla has been widely panned as the proverbial sick man of the “Magnificent 7” grouping of mega-cap stocks. Yet, the EV giant’s demand-related woes might prove to be a mere blip in the greater scheme of things if a recent research experiment fulfills its ambitions and its distilled constituents eventually end up within Tesla’s FSD.
To wit, researchers associated with REMspace, a Californian startup that aims to make our dreams more productive, have now announced that they were able to achieve a “two-way control of a virtual object from a lucid dream.” Specifically, REMspace researchers used electromyography sensors to control a virtual rendition of Tesla’s Cybertruck:
“If a person moved their legs in a dream, this led to the movement of a virtual avatar (Cybertruck) on the computer screen. Hand movements caused the car to turn, and obstacles were signaled by light through the eyelids.”
The implications of this research are immense. We spend almost a third of our lives sleeping. If this activity now suddenly becomes commercially productive, it would result in a huge boost in per capita output and earnings.
The internet is populated with videos of Tesla drivers sleeping behind the wheel. If REMspace’s research is able to translate into a viable product, those instances might just become the norm. Of course, given Tesla’s advances in the field of autonomous driving, we would not be surprised if the two entities do end up cooperating on a joint venture.
Meanwhile, as we noted earlier, Tesla’s short-term outlook is not looking too bright right now. The EV giant stated in its Q4 2023 earnings release that its growth rate in 2024 will be “notably lower” than what it achieved in 2023.
PIPER: “.. We are cutting our estimates after reflecting on the earnings call .. We now think $TSLA will deliver 1.93M vehicles in 2024, vs. our previous estimate of 2.18M. .. we expect 2024 Automotive gross margin (excl. credits) to fall by 110bps y/y, to 16.6%. .. We think… pic.twitter.com/XOdKxeVPKA
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) February 5, 2024
Moreover, Piper Sandler – widely considered to be one of the biggest Tesla bulls – has just cut its estimates, noting that it now expects the EV giant to deliver just 1.93 million vehicles in 2024. The investment bank also expects Tesla’s full-year automotive gross margin (ex-regulatory credits) to sink to 16.6 percent.
❖ SAP IS REMOVING TESLA FROM ITS LIST OF SUPPLIERS FOR ITS COMPANY CARS
❖ SAP FLEET MANAGER JUSTIFIES THE DECISION AS BEING DUE TO UNPUNCTUAL DELIVERIES AND PRICE FLUCTUATIONS
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) February 5, 2024
Additionally, the German software giant SAP has removed Tesla from its list of suppliers, citing unpunctual deliveries and price fluctuations as the cause.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk remains in the spot light for all of the wrong reasons. The Wall Street Journal published a post over the weekend that cited internal sources to suggest that Musk imbibed drugs with certain Tesla board members. Bear in mind that Tesla’s CEO is currently negotiating with its board on a new compensation package after the 2018 one was voided by the court last week.