Tesla didn't sell everything it produced in Q4, says Oppenheimer's Colin Rusch

GUGGENHEIM PARTNERS TODAY TO SELL WITH CONCERN OVER FOURTH QUARTER ESTIMATES. LET’S BRING IN COLLIN RUSH HOW DO YOU READ THE PRICE CUTS SOME PEOPLE SAY IT HELPS THEM QUALIFY FOR SOME OF THE E VUCHLT CREDITS IN THE NEW LEGISLATION TO HAVE LOWER PRICES DO YOU THINK IT’S A DEMAND STORY? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT >> I THINK IT IS MULTIPLE THINGS ONE, CERTAINLY THERE’S THE CONCERN AROUND DEMAND, YOU KNOW, AND ALL THE COMMENTARY GOING INTO A RECESSION IT LOOKS LIKE THERE’S SOME INVENTORY THAT’S BEEN BUILT IN CHINA. I THINK THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD

OFFENSE BEING A DEFENSIVE MOVE I THINK THEY’RE GOING AFTER THIS MARKET, GETTING INTO CONSUMERS’ HOMES, BUILDING GOODWILL WITH FOLKS ON THE PRICE MOVE AS FOLKS MAKE DECISIONS AROUND BUYING NEW VEHICLES AND THEY’RE GOING TO PUSH A LOT OF PRODUCT INTO THE MARKET AS A RESULT WE THINK THERE’S REALLY GOOD ECONOMICS FOR EVs AND THIS MAKES IT COMPELLING IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE, WHERE THESE PRICES ARE GOING TO SHAKE OUT >> WHERE DOES VALUATION STAND NOW THAT TESLA HAS HAD SUCH A BIG SELLOFF OVER THE LAST YEAR, BUT SOME ARE STILL CUTTING, SAYING THE NUMBERS ARE

TOO HIGH? >> I THINK WE’RE WAITING FOR FOURTH QUARTER NUMBERS TO SEE WHERE THEY SHAKE OUT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T SELL EVERYTHING THEY PRODUCED SO THERE’S POTENTIALLY HEADWINDS THERE. WE’RE SEEING A LOT OF THE COMMODITY —

COMMODITY PRICES COME DOWN TO LEVELS THAT COULD TURN INTO A TAILWIND FOR THEM ON MARGINS GOING INTO 2023. I THINK WE’RE LOOKING FOR SOME INCREMENTAL INFORMATION FROM THEM WHEN THEY REPORT HERE ABOUT WHERE MARGINS SHAKE OUT. HISTORICALLY THE COMPANY’S POINTED TO MARGINS IN THE MID-30s AS A POTENTIAL FOR THE COMPANY. THIS IS A PROCESS OF INDUSTRY

BUILDING AND TECHNOLOGY NODE CHANGE THERE’S GOING TO BE SOME UPS AND DOWNS HERE I THINK WE WANT TO SEE WHERE IT’S GOING TO LEVEL OUT IN THE NEXT QUARTER OR TWO AND START THINKING ABOUT WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE LONG TERM AS NEW MODELS GET INTO THE MARKET. I THINK WE’LL SEE A LITTLE DIP IN T