On Tesla's October 21 earnings call, Elon Musk said: "I remain convinced that Optimus will be the biggest product on Earth."
Optimus is Tesla's humanoid robot. On the same call, he said: "I think at some point there will be more humanoid robots on Earth than there are humans."
So should you buy Tesla? The man who recommended it in 2018 says it's not the best way in.
In November 2018, while the media was mocking Elon, Jeff Brown told his readers: "When I think about Tesla, I see one of the leading artificial intelligence companies in the world." He calls it "the most hated and controversial recommendation I had ever made."
Jeff spent more than two decades as a senior executive at Qualcomm, NXP Semiconductors and Juniper Networks. Today, he's looking past Tesla to a little-known company that, he says, already supplies it, and that he thinks could end up supplying Optimus.
Watch the free presentation
See Jeff's Answer on Tesla »Why Not Just Buy Tesla?
Jeff still calls Tesla a great company over the long term.
But he says Tesla was "dirt cheap" when he first recommended it in 2018. "It's not that cheap anymore."
And on Elon's new chip project, he says: "The best way to potentially profit from this is not buying shares of Tesla." He says the same about Tesla's robots.
That's because Jeff says Elon's next move isn't a car. It's a three-step AI plan:
- The chips. Jeff says Elon is getting ready to make his own AI chips, the first phase of a project called Terafab.
- The energy. Jeff says Elon plans to put AI chips on satellites, powered by the sun.
- The applications. Jeff says nobody comes close to Elon in physical AI: self-driving cars like the Cybercab, and Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot.
Where Jeff Is Looking Instead
Elon is moving fast. On the October 21 call, he said: "The Cybercab fleet in Austin, for example, has grown by a factor of 10 since launch about a month ago."
Jeff says each step of Elon's plan depends on companies most investors have never heard of: the maker of the machine Elon will need to build chips, a "space chip" maker that already works with SpaceX, and a sensor supplier to Tesla.
That's where Jeff is looking.
Watch the free presentation
See Why Jeff Is Looking Beyond Tesla »Jeff's Answer: Three Little-Known Companies
Instead of Tesla, Jeff has picked three little-known companies. One for each step.
Step 1: Chips
"If Elon wants to build chips, he will need that machine," Jeff says. He believes he's found the company that will supply it.
Step 2: Energy
A company Jeff says has worked with SpaceX for more than a decade, on chips used in every Starlink satellite and ground terminal. He believes it's positioned for the AI satellites too.
Step 3: Robots
A company Jeff says already supplies Tesla with a key piece of sensor technology. He wouldn't be surprised if it ends up supplying Optimus too.
The three aren't the same kind of call. One is Jeff's prediction of a new supplier. One, he says, already works with SpaceX. One, he thinks, could end up supplying Optimus.
Elon Musk hasn't endorsed Jeff's research or these picks. The picks are Jeff's.
Which companies are they?
Jeff's presentation is free to watch. His full research, including the names of all three companies, is available through a paid subscription to The Near Future Report, which renews automatically each year.
Jeff's End-of-October Forecast
Jeff believes Elon will officially announce a partnership with his step 1 pick, the chip-machine company, by the end of October.
That's his forecast, not a confirmed event.
Jeff's presentation is free to watch. It covers his answer on Tesla and all three steps of Elon's plan.
Free to watch · Investing involves risk
