Investing.com -- Amid a tough quarter, Elon Musk on Thursday night hosted a rare, all-hands meeting for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) employees, which was quickly put together and broadcast live on X.
The move comes during a key period when global protests were erupting at Tesla dealerships and the brand faced growing backlash—including vandalism of vehicles and more demonstrations planned for March 29. A
“This was a key moment for Musk and Tesla to show leadership and he did,” Wedbush analysts led by Daniel Ives said.
“We applaud Musk for ’reading the room’ and showing important hand holding at this key time for employees and investors,” they added.
Ives has stressed in a recent note that Musk must take the lead in steering Tesla through what they call a “dark brand crisis tornado,” providing clarity and reassurance to both staff and shareholders.
Investors have been growing increasingly anxious about Musk’s new role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), fearing his political involvement could hinder his ability to effectively lead Tesla.
“We are not asking Musk to give up his DOGE initiative....instead we and many top investors are asking for balance as Tesla CEO and DOGE in this key period for Tesla,” Ives continued.
The analyst described the recent brand hostility as unlike anything seen before, with Tesla becoming a political flashpoint. Still, Ives remains optimistic about the company’s long-term prospects, given his bullish views on the company’s autonomous driving solutions, full self-driving (FSD), and robotics, among other initiatives.
During the Thursday meeting, Musk shared updates including the production of the first Optimus robot in Fremont, with larger-scale manufacturing anticipated in 2026.
He also said a Tesla Cybercab would be produced every five seconds, a major leap from the current 35-second rate for the Model Y.
“This speaks to our view that we can see mass volume production of Cybercab in 2026 that could approach 200k-300k coming out of the gates in the first 12-18 months,” Ives said.
Musk reaffirmed that the Model Y remains on track to be the top-selling car globally for the third straight year in 2025, and that construction of the Tesla Semi truck factory is expected to finish this year. Other updates included progress on gigacasting, 4680 battery cells, and Tesla’s supercomputing efforts.
While challenges persist, Ives viewed the meeting as an important first step in restoring confidence. The analyst expects Musk to take a small step back from DOGE, shifting more focus to Tesla.
Ives also said he projects Tesla’s deliveries to remain soft in the near-term, which he believes are nearly priced into the stock at current levels.
However, if the company executes on the vision Musk presented, Ives believes Tesla is positioned for accelerated growth, with “90% of the valuation being autonomous and robotics driven over the next 3 years in our view.”