The Biggest Risk Facing Tesla Stock Right Now
Tesla is pouring billions into investment, but what happens if these bets pay off later than expected?
Overview
Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) biggest near-term risk lies in the two things that CEO Elon Musk believes are its biggest value-creation drivers: Cybercab/robotaxis and Optimus robots. In both cases, the company is aggressively ramping up up-front spending to support its development.
That's fine in itself, but it does expose the company to the risk of bleeding cash if robotaxi and Optimus don't generate earnings and cash flow in line with management's plans.
Details
Tesla's free cash flow (FCF) is becoming a stick the bears are using to beat the stock with. The company's capital spending is set to turn it from a cash-generative company to a net user of cash, as its earnings and operating cash flow (OCF) generation fail to offset the increase in spending. The dynamics of Wall Street analysts are shown in the chart, using data courtesy of Visible Alpha.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.