tyb
Elon Musk Thumbs Nose At SEC, Tweets Out New Solar Production Guidance
he's just FULL of news today
"I do not respect the SEC. I do not respect them," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said famously during a 60 Minutes interview last year.
this about the ONLY thing he has ever said that I agree with.
And it wasn't just Elon being cheeky for the camera. The CEO's actions have continually echoed this statement, including his most recent decision to post brand new guidance for Tesla's solar roof division on Twitter, despite having already been accused by the SEC for fraud based on his Tweets and then having to re-litigate with the SEC over allegations that he broke the terms of his initial settlement with the regulator.
On Monday, Musk Tweeted out a production number that the company hadn't previously disclosed, according to Bloomberg.
When Musk was asked about a follow up on the company's solar roofs, Musk replied that the was hoping the company would manufacture about 1,000 roofs per week by the end of 2019.
Spooling up production line rapidly. Hoping to manufacture ~1000 solar roofs/week by end of this year.
— e^👁🥧 (@elonmusk) July 30, 2019
As Bloomberg noted, "the tweet appears to fall under the scope of Musk’s amended accord with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission." Per this agreement, Musk is required to get pre-approval from a securities lawyer before posting guidance that hasn't been made public yet.
Additionally, the statement came just hours after a well known Tesla critic on Twitter, @TeslaCharts, took specific aim at the company's solar ambitions in a nearly two hour long podcast that was critical of the company on Sunday.
Hey @QTRResearch guess who listened to the podcast?$TSLAQ https://t.co/jTfvQGWbL9
— TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) July 30, 2019
Tesla didn't make mention of this guidance, or the solar roof, in its second quarter investor letter, published just days prior. Additionally, executives didn't talk about it on the earnings conference call that followed. The company said in a filing on Monday that it was working on design iterations and testing to improve its manufacturing capabilities, but it did not provide production guidance.
Producing 1,000 roofs per week would be a massive increase for the company, as News 4 Buffalo's Dan Telvock reminded Musk on Twitter. He posted video of a former Riverbend factory worker in February 2019 stating that the company's goals would be 200 homes per week at the end of 2019. He says the best rate he saw for solar modules while working there was "four homes a week".
.@elonmusk says Riverbend factory will produce 1000 solar roofs per week by end of 2019. That is going 0-100mph in less than a year. Listen to what this former employee said about solar goals in February. pic.twitter.com/jSBy6LunMg
— Dan Telvock⚡️ (@DanTelvock) July 30, 2019
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-30/elon-musk-thumbs-nose-sec-tweets-out-new-solar-production-guidance-0
trips chek't