*By Conor White*
The positive [news](https://cheddar.com/videos/tesla-stock-surges-after-q2-earnings-report) in Tesla's second quarter earnings report outweighed the negatives for most investors, sending shares up more than 12 percent to their highest level in a month.
The electric carmaker announced that Model 3 production is up, but it posted losses of more than $700 million.
Some analysts have fundamental doubts about Tesla's future.
"It's a story stock," said Mark Spiegel, managing member at Stanphyl Capital. "What you have here are: bulls who couldn't care less about balance sheets or profit and loss statements; and you've got bears, or as I would call them, realists, who care a lot about that kind of stuff."
Spiegel counts himself in the latter group. He said in an interview Thursday on Cheddar that Tesla didn't do nearly enough to assuage fears about its future ー and that doesn't even account for all the other car companies eager for a bigger slice of the electric vehicle industry.
"There's a massive amount of competition coming for this company," Speigel said. "Between the Jaguar that's out now and the Audi, Mercedes, and Porsche coming out next year, it's going to destroy Model S and X sales, and that's where \[Tesla's\] margin isーwhatever margin they have."
And even though [outspoken](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-elon-musk-behave-on-this-weeks-earnings-call) CEO Elon Musk behaved on this conference call, there's no telling what he will do next.
After reaching its production goal of 5,000 Model 3 cars per week, Tesla reports it now wants to churn out 10,000 per week, "as fast as we can."
Spiegel dismissed those numbers ー and Tesla more generally.
"They're a perennial over-promiser and under-deliverer," he said.
"The reason they keep putting out these aggressive numbers is it supports the stock, which is an absurd valuation. If Tesla were a normal car company losing this much money, the stock would be in the low single digits."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/tesla-announces-biggest-loss-ever-but-shares-rally).
Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics recently announced a $125 million funding round as the trucking industry is facing major challenges, including growing shipping demand and driver shortages. Kodiak says its autonomous technology can help businesses move goods faster, safer, cleaner, and more efficiently. Kodiak Robotics founder and CEO Don Burnette joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, turned heads on Tuesday when it announced it will block some ad-targeting, specifically those of a political and religious nature.
This is one of the most direct moves the company has made in order to minimize ad-targeting by advertisers on its platforms. Hastie Afkhami, Head of Digital at S-3 Group, joins Cheddar News to discuss the impact of this move.
Sotheby's is getting into the crypto game. The auction house announced it will now be accepting bids in increments of ETH, marking the first time that an auction will field live bids in crypto. This announcement comes just a week ahead of Sotheby's contemporary art auction 'The Now Evening Auction' for two works by Banksy: Trolley Hunters and Love is in the Air. Alex Branczik, Sotheby's Chairman for Modern & Contemporary Art joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss what went into this move.
Autonomous tech developer Embark made its Nasdaq debut on Thursday via a SPAC merger, making its CEO Alex Rodrigues, the youngest chief executive of a publicly-traded company at the age of 26. He joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to discuss what led to the IPO and what it means for the trucking industry as it looks to navigate ongoing supply chain issues. "I think there are really three major benefits to autonomous trucks. You think about the benefit from an efficiency perspective, from a safety perspective, and from an environmental perspective," Rodrigues noted.
AppHarvest CEO Jonathan Webb joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about the company's Q3 earnings, stating sales data showed the indoor farming tech firm remained on track with its 2021 outlook. Webb also discussed a new campaign called "Fight The Food Fight," to encourage consumers to support a more resilient, sustainable food system.
SpaceX and NASA have collaborated on another successful launch sending four astronauts to the international space station. The international crew will stay in orbit aboard the ISS for six months.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Yat Labs Co-Founder breaks down how a 'Yat' is changing the way people think about their online identities; Scythe Robotics CEO explains how it's bringing innovation to the landscaping industry with its autonomous, all-electric mowers; Founder of California Cowboy discusses how its creating clothing designed for creating in-person connections with others with features like a beverage pocket, bottle opener, and conversation cards; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Beyond the Spotlight' biography series.
Jack Morrison, CEO and co-founder Scythe Robotics, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss how it's bringing innovation to the landscaping industry with its autonomous, all-electric lawn mowers, and how this is addressing the labor crisis in the landscaping industry.
