Tesla Cultmembers Beg for More EV Sales... As Elon Has Wet Dreams Over His $10T Robot Army

TSLA investors: “We need you to focus and figure out how to sell more EVs.”

Elon, after binge-watching Transformers on his private jet: “Don’t worry, I’ve got Bumblebee on the assembly line.”

That’s not a meme, that’s Tesla’s reality in 2025. Ever since Elon wandered into politics, staged his strange bromance (and eventual breakup) with Trump, and spent more time on X than on the factory floor, shareholders have been screaming: “Bro, just build cars again.” Cars people actually want. Cars that don’t lock you in when they catch fire. Cars that don’t need a software patch every time it rains. Instead, Tesla is barely keeping its head above water, EV demand continues to slow worldwide (thanks to BYD’s dominance), and Musk is out here asking for a $1 trillion pay package while telling investors the future isn’t cars at all… it’s actually robots.

The problem alone isn’t that Elon has big goals and ideas… it’s that Tesla’s already priced like it’s gonna save humanity. Tesla’s earnings are projected to fall nearly 30% in 2025, at the same time its stock trades at an absurd 155x forward earnings. For comparison, Nvidia is trading around 31x. Apple’s at 29x. Even Amazon, with its logistics empire and AWS breadmaker, is just 40x. Tesla is priced like it’s still in hypergrowth mode, but revenue growth has been flat to down for two years. Meanwhile, margins have collapsed. Net income margin sits around 6%, which is worse than Amazon’s 10.5% and a joke compared to Microsoft’s 36%.

(Source: Electrek)

Unfortunately for Tesla superfans, the stock’s performance reflects that reality. Tesla shares are down over 2% this year, making it one of the worst performers in the S&P 500… an index that’s up 12%. Since mid-December, when shares touched a local high, the stock has fallen about 25%. If you bought the hype at the end of 2024, you’re holding the bag while Musk parades humanoid robots on stage.

And about those robots. Musk claims that “80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus” and that humanoid robotics could be a $10 trillion opportunity. Is it exciting? Sure. But right now, Optimus is more proof of concept than product. Prototypes shuffle across the stage, wave at the crowd, and maybe stack a box or two. Meanwhile, the cars themselves still have reliability issues… flush door handles that jam, Autopilot phantom-braking like a grandma who just saw a squirrel, and quality control that feels like IKEA furniture without the Allen wrench.

(Source: CNBC)

Robotaxis were supposed to be the bridge between cars and robots. The Tesla cult got hyped in 2024 when Musk aligned himself with Trump and promised a regulatory green light for autonomous driving. Shares ripped as if world domination was on the table. But the relationship with Donnie Politics soured, and Tesla’s Austin rollout was underwhelming AF… like, “three cars circling the block” underwhelming. Meanwhile, Waymo is still miles ahead, and California regulators continue to look at Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” claims like, “Sure, Jan.”

The core problem is this: Tesla still makes almost all its revenue from selling cars, but EV sales are slowing. China, its most important growth market, is saturated and competitive, with BYD undercutting Tesla on price. Europe’s demand has gone ice cold. Even the U.S. EV adoption curve has plateaued. Tariffs and trade barriers are rising. Revenue dropped 12% year over year in the last quarter, and Tesla’s free cash flow margin sits at an anemic 1.4%. These aren’t the numbers of a trillion-dollar disruptor… they’re the numbers of a car company in trouble.

That’s why Musk keeps changing the story. First, it was EV world domination. Then, robotaxis. Now, humanoid robots. Investors are getting motion sickness watching him pivot every six months. Sure, Optimus could one day be massive… robots running warehouses, working in grocery stores, maybe even babysitting your kids (good luck with that). But right now, there’s no market, no revenue, and no proof Tesla can scale it. Buying Tesla today is essentially betting Musk is right about robots. If he’s wrong, you’re left holding shares of an overpriced car company in the middle of an identity crisis.

If you truly believe Elon is the chosen one who will turn Optimus into the iPhone of robotics, then maybe Tesla’s insane multiple makes sense. But if you’re skeptical (and think he can’t deliver half of what he’s promising) then this is lining up to be the bagholder trade of the century. (Although, if you got in pre-2021, you’re still playing with house money, so pour yourself a drink and enjoy the robot talent show. It’s gonna be a long ride.)

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft as mentioned in the article.