Once, the saying “Don’t bet against the mouse” was commonplace when advising investors to avoid trading against Disney (NYSE:DIS). Increasingly, that maxim is falling out of favor and replaced with “Don’t bet against Elon Musk.”
Looking at Elon Musk’s many projects with a clear, fair and impartial perspective is nearly impossible today. That’s because political infighting and armchair experts dissect every word, bit of biographical data and operational misstep with a bad faith, maximally critical eye — just search Elon Musk on Reddit (NYSE:RDDT) if you don’t believe me.
Luckily for Elon Musk, the millions of lobsters trying to drag him and other high-performers back into the pot can’t argue with results and reality (effectively, at least). And, across Elon Musk’s many business ventures, finding a directly competitive parallel company getting effectively manhandled by Musk is simple, even as his flagship company Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) hits rocky roads.
Each of these stocks is going head-to-head with Elon Musk, and the forecast isn’t good — meaning it’s time to call these stocks to sell before it’s too late.
Boeing (BA)
Boeing (NYSE:BA) has had its fair share of troubles this year as a “profit first” mentality meant MBA-types overrode engineering expertise and sacrificed safety for cost savings. That, and other factors, contributed to Boeing’s stock sliding 30% since January and still trading well below pre-pandemic levels.
But from our current perspective, Boeing is a stock to sell based on this week’s Starliner mishap. Boeing’s answer to SpaceX’s routine space cargo and personnel delivery operations is the Starliner. May 6th marked Boeing’s final crewed test flight to the International Space Station. Following a successful flight, they’d be fully authorized to conduct routine flights and deliveries outside Earth’s orbit. But sensor readings on the platform’s oxygen valves forced the scrub. While we’re grateful that experts caught the issue before a disaster, it remains an inopportune event when Boeing desperately needs a win — any win.
All of this brings to mind the 2004 Aviation Week magazine headline, which asked readers, “Can Tiny SpaceX Rock Boeing?” Increasingly, the answer is Yes — though SpaceX isn’t so tiny anymore.
Rockwell Automation (ROK)
I’m exceedingly bullish on the wider robotics and automation fields; Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) is one of those blue-chip robotics stocks that’s tough to beat. But Rockwell and smaller competitors should watch out as Elon Musk continually improves Tesla’s independent robotics efforts. Rockwell particularly focuses on industrial automation, directly competing with Elon Musk’s burgeoning robotics projects.
Tesla has long been at the front of innovative automotive assembly operations that include automation (say that five times fast). These robotics platforms are largely what you’d expect: massive swinging arm assemblies moving components and frames, spraying paint compounds and similarly large-scale tasks. Robotics largely steered clear of minute, sensitive tasks with less room for error — until recently. That’s when Elon Musk unveiled a new video of the Optimus humanoid robot sorting battery cells, wandering about the office and even self-correcting errors.
While the tech isn’t quite reaching worker replacement levels, it’s still early. As robotics like Optimus become more dexterous, as Musk already plans with greater hand articulation later in the year, these types of robotics will be able to perform dangerous (but in-demand) work that’s either too risky or costly for humans — further hurting automation and robotics competitors’ best efforts.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT)
I said before that Trump Media & Technology Group’s (NASDAQ:DJT) Truth Social platform had a brief window of opportunity to capitalize on wider social media missteps and misaligned trends. Unfortunately for bagholders, that day is long past. Elon Musk is a major reason Truth Social’s former value proposition no longer holds.
In a nutshell, Truth Social’s time in the spotlight came amid very clear social media censorship and algorithmic silencing that increasingly became proven via document leaks and solid investigative journalism. At that time, real value lay in creating a large social media ecosystem away from the bigger names. Other platforms existed but tended to be too small or niche to gather momentum, and few personalities could bring as much hype and attention to a burgeoning social media platform as Trump’s.
Protracted legal battles and (frankly) mismanagement on CEO Devin Nunes’ part dashed any hopes of Truth Social becoming a viable competitor. But it didn’t matter. Musk’s realignment and reorientation of X served nearly every ethos Truth Social espoused, and the bet is paying off. Global X user rates are accelerating, and advertising is finally finding its footing, even as some continue calling for advertising boycotts against Musk. On the flip side, Truth Social’s user rates are rapidly dwindling and ad revenue is nearly nonexistent.
I’m hesitant to forecast Truth Social’s future, considering how much of a wildcard Trump’s presence introduces into the equation. Still, one thing is certain: Elon Musk did what Truth Social set out to do, cheaper and more effectively — and it’s still relatively early in X’s second lease at life.
On the date of publication, Jeremy Flint held no positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.