According to news on October 23, financial analyst and YouTube blogger Kevin Paffrath revealed that during Tesla’s poor earnings call, its CEO Elon Musk acted like a “little baby” and almost cried!
Pavratpa has nearly 1.9 million subscribers on the MeetKevin YouTube channel and owns Tesla stock. He said: "It seems tragic for a company leader to complain about the economic situation instead of coming up with a plan to deal with it!"
Pavrat pointed to Musk's comments about Tesla's Gigafactory in Mexico as an example. Musk confirmed the plan, which could cost as much as $10 billion, at a meeting with investors in March. This will be Tesla's sixth Gigafactory to date and its most expensive.
Musk hinted at one point during the conference call that he would delay construction of the factory due to rising interest rates and higher borrowing costs. He said: "If interest rates remain high, or even higher, it will become more difficult for people to buy cars. They simply cannot afford to buy a car." He also explained the impact of high interest rates on people's monthly car payments.
But Pavrat blasted Musk's response, saying the Tesla CEO was "scared" and suggested Musk should negotiate a better deal with the Mexican government or perhaps "advertise to higher-income areas." Pavrat has previously called on Tesla to promote its products to non-fans.
"We need to know that the light is at the end of the tunnel, rather than listen to the whining of a CEO who doesn't really provide a path," he said.
Tesla reported worse-than-expected third-quarter results, with earnings per share and revenue falling short of analysts' expectations. The electric car maker's shares have fallen 15% over the past week, with its market value falling to $664 billion at one point, but the stock is still up 96% this year.
Pavrat wasn't the only analyst to criticize Musk's performance on the call. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives described it as a "mini-catastrophe" with a "cautious Musk" focusing on high interest rates and lowering expectations for the Cybertruck, an electric pickup truck.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.