GLJ Research CEO Gordon Johnson on Thursday slammed Tesla Inc‘s TSLA recent prospective timeline for releasing its full self-driving (FSD) driver assistance technology in foreign markets as a sheer move to “pump” the stock.
What Happened: Earlier on Thursday, Tesla announced that it is looking to roll out FSD in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
Tesla bear Johnson, however, is not convinced by what he terms a “meaningless announcement” meant to push the stock price up. The EV giant has used this “pump” multiple times already this year, the analyst said.
“There seems to be a formula here: => report poor earnings results => stock falls => pump stock intra-quarter w/ meaningless announcements (FSD coming soon, IF we get approval) => stock rises,” he wrote on social media platform X.
“This appears a stock pump based on hope. Seems to work every time,” he wrote while also accusing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of not taking action.
Future Fund managing partner and Tesla bull Gary Black, however, is of the opinion that the Q1 2025 timeline is in line with expectations and not just a stock pump strategy.
“Elon had indicated on the last earnings call that TSLA expected to receive regulatory approval to launch supervised FSD in Europe and China by year-end,” he noted.
Why It Matters: Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share of 52 cents for the second quarter, lower than the street consensus estimate of 62 cents. Tesla's second-quarter revenue rose 2% year-over-year to $25.5 billion, with operating margin dropping to 6.3% from the 9.6% reported for the corresponding period of last year owing to waning customer demand, heightened competition, and an intense price war in key EV markets around the globe.
The company is currently looking to scale other aspects of its business including autonomous driving and humanoid robots in a bid to spike its falling value.
FSD is the advanced version of Tesla's autopilot driver assistance technology. While the technology doesn't allow for completely autonomous driving as of today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is optimistic that it would.
Price Action: Tesla stock is down 11.7% year-to-date, as of the last close, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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