in the second quarter after a strong earnings performance Elon Musk and other Tesla Executives sat down for their quarterly conference call in July musk acknowledged economic challenges but his demeanor and message were notably positive he talked about how Rising interest rates could make cars more expensive and explain that Tesla's response was to reduce car prices but even with these economic challenges musk was unwavering in his confidence about Tesla's long-term prospects he boldly stated have very high confidence in the long-term value of Tesla expressing his belief in a substantial increase in the company's worth possibly five to 10 times higher musk brushed off short-term fluctuations in profitability emphasizing that autonomy would make those concerns seem insignificant however the tone dramatically shifted in the third quarter conference call the theme was one of caution in the face of inflation with musk expressing deep concerns about the current economic environment while announcing ing the upcoming deliveries of the Cyber truck in November he mentioned that it would take 12 to 18 months for it to significantly contribute to cash flow this was a stark contrast to his July confidence in tester's long-term strength I'm not saying things will be bad I'm just saying they might be musk said highlighting the unpredictable economic conditions he likened tester to a capable ship facing a storm acknowledging the challenges even for a great ship in turbulent Waters musk's new Farm pessimism is part L due to high interest rates which he believes will continue to affect car affordability he stressed the impact of interest rates on car prices even after price Cuts musk expressed a desire for lower interest rates but noted the uncertainty ahead another reason behind musk's concern is his past experience during the 2009 financial crisis which left a mark on him he explained that people tend to hesitate to buy new cars during uncertain Economic Times indicating that car companies perform well in good economic conditions but fa challenges during tougher times the aftermath of the earnings report and call led to many analysts including tester supporters like Dan Ives lowering their price targets IES even described the earnings as a disaster Tesla's stock took a significant hit dropping more than 10% the day after the report and nearly 16% of the past week it's down 29% from its 52- we high this shift in tone and the economic concerns expressed by Elon Musk highight the challenges and uncertainties facing Tesla in the evolving economic landscape
