Meet the "Infinite Money Glitch" That Could Send Tesla Stock Soaring, According to Elon Musk

Core Insights - Tesla's CEO Elon Musk claims that the Optimus robot could revolutionize productivity for businesses, referring to it as an "infinite money glitch" due to its potential efficiency [2] - Despite the excitement surrounding Optimus, Tesla's electric vehicle (EV) sales have been sluggish, with a 13% year-over-year decline in the first half of 2025 [9][10] - The company is facing increasing competition in the EV market, particularly from cheaper brands like BYD, leading to a loss of market share [11] Tesla's Future Product Platforms - The Optimus robot is seen as Tesla's most complex manufacturing challenge, requiring in-house production of components due to the lack of an existing supply chain [5] - Musk predicts that humanoid robots could outnumber humans by 2040, with Optimus potentially being five times more productive than a human worker [6] - Long-term revenue from Optimus sales could reach $10 trillion, with plans to scale production from 1 million units annually to as many as 100 million units in the future [7] Current Business Performance - Over 75% of Tesla's revenue still comes from EV sales, which have seen a decline, delivering 720,803 cars in the first half of 2025 [9] - Although there was a 7% increase in deliveries in the recent third quarter, this may have been influenced by consumers purchasing vehicles ahead of the expiration of a tax credit [10] - Tesla's recent launch of a low-cost Model Y aims to revive its passenger EV business, although Musk has previously resisted this strategy in favor of focusing on the Cybercab autonomous robotaxi [13] Competitive Landscape - Tesla's market share in China has decreased from 11.7% to 7.5% in the first half of 2025, highlighting the competitive pressures from other EV manufacturers [11] - The company is testing a ride-hailing service using its EVs with full self-driving software, but current operations require a human supervisor, adding costs [14] Valuation Considerations - Tesla's market capitalization is currently $1.3 trillion, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 254, making it significantly more expensive than the Nasdaq-100 index and Nvidia [15][16] - Given the current state of the EV business and the timeline for Optimus production, there are questions about the wisdom of investing at such a high valuation [18]