Tesla laid off at least 10 percent of its workforce earlier this month, and in typical Tesla fashion, the Texas-based automaker made sure the layoffs were done in an organized fashion with plenty of communication and a clearly defined strategy. Just kidding. The layoffs were so poorly executed that security was forced to scan employees’ badges at the door to figure out who had been laid off. And, apparently, that included a guy who had taken to sleeping in his car and showering at the factory so
The difference is that “tech” companies can produce more of their software with minimal or no additional cost. This is why their values tend to be higher than traditional companies manufacturing things. Tesla can’t do that. Their revenue is their shitty cars, without them there’s nothing to run their shitty non-working software on.
Apple almost exclusively ships their software with their hardware. They’re still a tech company.
I see the point you’re making, and it isn’t a terrible one. But the thing is, Tesla isn’t valued like a car company. They’ve enjoyed a market cap at times greater than VAG and Toyota, the largest automakers, who ship orders of magnitude more cars than Tesla does. Tesla’s value has not been in its manufacturing capability but in its position in the market.
(That is likely to change going forward, as other automakers are catching up in the EV world and Musk has alienated Tesla’s core audience.)
The market being stupid doesn’t change the fact that they are a manufacturing company. The fact that they can convince people to repeat this nonsense is how they keep the market stupid. Keeping the market stupid is how they continue pumping cash to stay afloat.