Suddenly! Musk, big announcement!

Source: Brokerage China

Musk is on the move!

At the time when Tesla encountered its darkest moment, Musk announced a blockbuster plan. He announced at an all-hands meeting that the humanoid robot Optimus has been manufactured on a pilot production line at the Fremont plant and will enter the pre-production phase this year, with a generation target of 5,000 Optimus robots this year, 10,000 to 12,000 components have been ordered, and 50,000 units are targeted for production in 2026.

At the same time, Musk also cheered up employees at the meeting, saying that despite the "difficult times", everyone should still "continue to hold" Tesla shares. As of the latest close, Tesla's stock price was at $236.26, down more than 51% from its December high.

At the same time, according to CCTV International News, recently, there have been frequent vandalism incidents against Tesla dealerships, Tesla cars and charging piles in many places across the United States, and protests against the purchase of Tesla cars have also occurred in some areas. Late at night on March 20, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on the "real social" platform he created, saying, "There is a high probability that those who vandalize Tesla vehicles will be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, including the funders [of the sabotage]." ”

Tesla's super-bull, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives warned that Musk needs to turn his attention back to Tesla after three consecutive months of dismal declines in Tesla's stock price. Tesla is going through a crisis, and Musk is the only one who can solve it.

Musk announced

On March 20, Eastern time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced at an all-staff meeting that the humanoid robot Optimus Prime (Optimus) has been manufactured on the trial production line of the Fremont factory and will enter the trial production stage this year.

Musk said that this year's generation target is 5,000 Optimus, and the parts ordered are enough to support the production of 10,000-12,000 units this year, and the goal is to produce 50,000 Optimus in 2026.

Compared with the Optimus production capacity guidance given in January this year, Musk's mass production data announced this time is more accurate. He previously said at CES that Tesla plans to produce thousands of humanoid robots Optimus (Optimus Prime) in 2025, and these robots will initially be tested in Tesla's factories. "If all goes well, we plan to increase production to 10 times (2025) next year (2026), which is about 50,000-100,000 units; In the following year, it will be further increased to 10 times, that is, from 500,000 units. ”

Although mass production has not yet been officially rolled out, Musk has begun to envision further broadening the application scenarios of Optimus Prime in the future - in addition to "working in the factory", but also "going to the sky".

On March 15, local time, Musk announced that SpaceX's heavy-lift launch vehicle "Starship" (Starship) will carry Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus to Mars at the end of 2026. If this landing mission goes smoothly, the manned mission to Mars is expected to start in 2029, but it is more likely to be realized in 2031.

Guosen Securities believes that the mass production rhythm of Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus is gradually clear, and the continuous layout of relevant giants at home and abroad (Figure, NVIDIA, Huawei, Unitree, Zhiyuan, etc.), the humanoid robot industry is expected to accelerate the landing, and 2025 is expected to become the starting point of the industry outbreak, and it is optimistic about the industrial upgrading opportunities brought by the development of humanoid robots.

Musk cheers up employees

Musk also cheered employees up at Tesla's all-hands meeting, saying that despite the "tough times," people should "continue to hold" Tesla shares.

"If you watch the news, it feels like the end of the world," Tesla told employees. "Every time I walk past the TV, I see a Tesla on fire. I can understand if you don't want to buy our product, but you don't have to burn it down. ”

The past few weeks have undoubtedly been difficult for Musk, who is still pushing for the closure of some federal agencies, layoffs and spending cuts as head of the U.S. government's efficiency department.

In an interview with Fox News on the 18th Eastern time, Musk told host Sean Hannity that he is trying to reduce government waste and fraud, which is why some people "want to kill me".

In the early hours of the same day, a shooting and arson broke out at a Tesla repair center in Las Vegas, USA, where a suspect dressed in black shot at multiple Teslas and used Molotov cocktails to set the cars on fire.

Musk himself retweeted the clip, posting on his social media platform X: "This level of violence is insane and extremely wrong. Tesla is just making electric cars and isn't doing anything that deserves to be attacked by this evil. ”

In an interview that night, Musk said again about the matter: "It turns out that when you stop their fraud and confiscate the money they got through fraudulent means, they are very frustrated and unhappy." ”

In Canada, Tesla cars and Tesla dealers have also been targeted by vandals. As many as 80 vehicles were damaged at a Tesla dealership in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, making it the largest vandalism against Tesla in Canada so far.

At the same time, Tesla's stock price also suffered a sharp sell-off, as of the close of trading on March 20, Tesla's stock price was at $236.26, a cumulative decline of 51.6% from the high in December last year.

Wall Street's warning

Tesla's super-bull, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives once again issued a warning to the company, saying that Musk needs to turn his attention back to Tesla after three consecutive months of dismal declines in the stock price.

Ives stressed that Tesla is going through a crisis and Musk is the only one who can solve this problem. At present, Musk needs to do two things to curb Tesla's negative public opinion and get Tesla's stock price back on track.

He pointed out that first Musk must announce that he will balance his role as head of the U.S. government's Department of Efficiency (DOGE) and Tesla's CEO, as the market now thinks he is putting 110% of his energy into DOGE.

Ives expects Musk to make a similar statement ahead of Tesla's first-quarter earnings call in early May, and once he commits to pay more attention to Tesla's work, it will immediately ease the pressure on Tesla due to DOGE.

Second, he also believes that Musk must explain in more detail the business plan for low-cost electric vehicles. Tesla pledged last year to launch a low-cost electric car that will go into production in 2025, and this vehicle is crucial for Tesla to become more competitive.

Ives pointed out that Musk must salvage the company's image and give Tesla's business benefits to solve this trouble. In addition to low-cost electric vehicles, Ives wants to learn more about Robotaxi rides.

Ives still maintains a price target on Tesla at around $550, implying a potential upside of 132% for the stock.

In addition, long-term investor Ross Gerber also warned this week that Musk will either come to power or step down, and Tesla can find another suitable CEO to manage the company, but Ives did not call for a change of leadership for Tesla, pointing out that Tesla and Musk are inseparable.

Ives stressed that as long as Musk can prove that he can produce lower-cost cars and implement the self-driving technology that has been working on for years, then the controversy around DOGE will subside. Tesla will leave a scar, but there will be no permanent brand loss.

Editor-in-charge: Luo Xiaoxia