Tesla Is Still A 'Sleeping Giant,' Maurer Says At Benzinga Cleantech Small Cap Conference

Cleantech is a trend that we are not going to see slow down any time soon, Rob Maurer, the founder and host of the YouTube show "Tesla Daily," said Thursday during the Benzinga Cleantech Small Cap Conference.

When it comes to Tesla Inc TSLA disruption is the theme, he said. 

Maurer addressed common criticisms of Tesla in his presentation Thursday at the virtual Benzinga conference. 

Maurer On Tesla Bear Critiques: Although Tesla's price-to-earnings ratio is over 1000x, deferred revenue recognition and removal of interest expense would add $1.67 to Tesla's earnings per share, bringing its price-to-earnings ratio down to 311x, Maurer said. 

Elon Musk's stock-based compensation plan is drawing on Tesla's profitability, but Maurer said he expects the current plan to be fully recognized by 2023.

Tesla is often criticized for having the largest market cap of any automaker by far, but the company is not just an automaker, Maurer said.

Tesla is also a dealership, supplier and charging company, the "Tesla Daily" host said. 

Tesla has the ability to sell software option upgrades for its vehicles with very high margins, he said. 

Maurer On Tesla's Growth Trajectory: Excluding regulatory credits, 2020 revenue growth was up 25% and operating income was up 45%, Maurer said.

Tesla has had a 73% annual compound growth rate since its IPO, he added. 

Maurer compared Tesla's growth to Amazon.com Inc AMZN.

In 2021 — eight years after surpassing $1 billion in revenue — Tesla is projected to have 3x the revenue that Amazon had eight years after it passed $1 billion in revenue, he said. 

The competitive landscape is a matter of electric vehicles vs. internal combustion engine vehicles, not EVs vs. EVs, Maurer said. 

Tesla has barely scratched the surface on autonomy and artificial intelligence, he said, adding that the automaker is a "sleeping giant." 

Photo courtesy of Tesla.