CNBC Jim Cramer

Tesla Wins Over TSLA Critic Jim Cramer's Wife After Experiencing Model X in Test Drive

Tesla-Model-X-wins-over-TSLA-critic

Tesla’s Model X won over the wife of longtime TSLA (NASDAQ: TSLA) critic Jim Cramer. As CNBC’s Mad Money host, Cramer has been a harsh critic of Tesla and its eccentric CEO Elon Musk in the past. Cramer usually tries to tread the line between TSLA bear and bull—or at least neutral—but when his bearish side is unleashed, it's not a pretty sight. His wife may be the only person who could ever convince such a TSLA critic to actually to buy a Model X. 

According to MarketWatch, Jim Cramer is close to buying a Model X, thanks to his wife, Lisa. The pair test drove Tesla’s all-electric SUV recently, and Mrs. Cramer firmly put her foot down. Cramer described the scene in a tweet. 

In a later tweet, directed at Tesla’s CEO, Cramer described his test run in a Model X as a “fantastic ride.” The Mad Money host may be a small win for the Tesla community, who welcomed Cramer with open arms. However, Cramer’s stand on the all-electric automaker has stayed the same.

“I think if the balance sheet were better, everyone would love it,” Cramer said when he was asked about TSLA as a company. It seems that Cramer looks at the automaker’s product separate from the company’s balance sheet and shares. 

Although Cramer did give Tesla some credit after the Q3 results were announced. He was particularly impressed by the company’s work in China with Gigafactory 3, reported Market Realist. The Shanghai facility costs 65 percent less than Fremont, which may be a factor that Cramer considered in his assessment. It was also constructed in less than 10 months. 

After the Q3 2019 earnings call, Cramer said in a CNBC report, “I’ve got to tell you, Ford sounded like Tesla, and Tesla sounded like Ford. Tesla was like listening to a call from a real company that made cars and made money…It was seamless.” Cramer observed that Tesla sounded like a traditional car company, which may be the crux of the matter when it comes to Tesla and its competitors. 

Not many people—analysts, TSLAQ, or Tesla skeptics—understand that Tesla isn’t just an automaker. Tesla isn’t even a typical car manufacturer because it has only ever-made all-electric vehicles. Since its inception, the company has been different, its mission has been different. 

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Credit: Tesla

Other than an automaker disrupting the car industry, Tesla can also be classified as a tech firm with its self-driving system and Autopilot software. Its full self-driving suite alone is enough to categorize Tesla as a company with one foot in the tech industry. 

Then there is Tesla Energy, which has yet to really make strides. The energy portion of the company has taken a backseat to Tesla’s car manufacturing side, but it is still going. For instance, Tesla Energy has had some success in Australia with Elon Musk’s Biggest Battery in the World in Hornsdale, and the Virtual Power Plant Tesla is working on with the Australian government.

So at the end of the day, the assessments of TSLA analysts and skeptics, like Jim Cramer, are usually only based on one facet of Tesla. They don’t account for the company’s mission, either. Tesla is a company that is trying to make sustainability mainstream, the norm, and placing some monetary value on that may be difficult. 

Featured Image Credit: Tesla

About the Author

Claribelle Deveza

Claribelle Deveza

Longtime writer and news/book editor. Writing about Tesla allows me to contribute something good to the world, while doing something I love.

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