Elizabeth Warren calls on SEC to investigate Tesla for corporate governance issues
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Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the SEC on Monday asking for an investigation into Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and its disclosures regarding the actions of the board in managing the apparent conflicts of CEO Elon Musk. The letter claimed Muskâs actions since purchasing Twitter and becoming its CEO have raised concerns about conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts for Tesla (TSLA) shareholders.
"Despite recent and repeated calls from investors to address these actions, the Board appears to have failed to uphold its legal duty to ensure that Mr. Musk act in the best interest of Tesla. The Board also does not appear to have adequately disclosed concerns about these issues to investors, undermining shareholdersâ ability to make informed voting and investing decisions and to hold their fiduciaries accountable. The Boardâs inaction and inadequate disclosures, and the close relationships of several Board members to Mr. Musk, raise questions about the effectiveness of their corporate governance and potential violations of securities laws."
Warren also said the hiring of Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter does little to address the concerns to Tesla (TSLA) and its shareholders related to his dual role. On the flip side, Wall Street analysts were vocal early in saying the Twitter purchase by Elon Musk was a negative distraction for Tesla, but have viewed the development more favorably since the hiring of Yaccarino.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) moved up 2.25% in morning trading on Monday following the announcement of the company's first Cybertruck rolling off the assembly line in Austin, Texas.
Tesla earnings preview: Tesla (TSLA) will report earnings for the second quarter on July 19. Analysts are expecting revenue to grow 47% year-over-year to $24.7B and EPS to come in at $0.81. The biggest focus for investors could be the impact of the price cuts by Tesla during the quarter. Gross margin is seen falling to 18.7% from 19.3% in Q1 and EBITDA is seen slipping to $4.14B from $4.27B in the prior-year quarter. Other items of interest will be the energy storage update, and the outlook for the Austin, Shanghai, and Berlin gigafactories. Tesla's current guidance is for 1.8M vehicles deliveries in 2023 vs. the 1.37M vehicles delivered in 2022. On the earnings conference call, Elon Musk could stir things by by updating on the sub-$30K Model 2, which is expected to be built out of Mexico sometime in 2025. Tesla (TSLA) may also set a date for its Cybertruck event, add context to the upside from automakers across the industry adopting the NACS charging standard, and add color about the planned Model 3 refresh. Options trading on Tesla (TSLA) implies a share price swing of 8% following the report. Tesla (TSLA) shed 9.8% after its last earnings report. 
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