I'm not saying they are worth their valuation, I'm just saying you can't exactly claim/imply that they aren't very profitable compared to others in the market they are operating in.
Also remember that they almost tripled profit in the last year, so that PE ratio will be 1/3 if they manage to do that again. Again, I'm not claiming that it is possible, or that that would be a sensible P/E ratio, or that they aren't overvalued, but P/E can change quickly.
I would be shocked if they were able to maintain those margins.
They’ve faced relatively little competition in the EV space until this point and benefited from a shortage juicing prices. As demand eases and more entrants come into the EV space, they will have to lose margin, market share, or both.
> I would be shocked if they were able to maintain those margins.
I wouldn't be. They have fundamental and very broad patents on important things like:
* Pre-heating the battery on the way to a charging stop (enables the battery to accept faster charging without damage on road trips)
* Using motor waste heat for battery heating (increases range while use the above strategy)
* Dynamically adjusting charge rates due to real-time battery conditions (enables charging faster)
Those patents don't expire until the mid/late 2030's. That allows Tesla to force competitors to either pay a licensing fee or use more-expensive workarounds, like different battery chemistries, to match the battery range and charging rate. Either way, it means Tesla is likely to have larger margins than competitors.
I’m not intimately familiar with teslas patent strategy, but to my knowledge they aren’t enforcing any of those patents at all. Every single one of those features are present on competitor vehicles already.
Good. The fact that very specific mechanisms that anyone could have thought of for something everyone understands is beneficial (keeping your battery warm) is patentable to begin with is... not great.
Also remember that they almost tripled profit in the last year, so that PE ratio will be 1/3 if they manage to do that again. Again, I'm not claiming that it is possible, or that that would be a sensible P/E ratio, or that they aren't overvalued, but P/E can change quickly.