Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings were released on Wednesday after the closing bell. The results surprised Wall Street and sent shares down more than 5% in extended trade. The giant in electric vehicles had a 3% gain in revenue to $25.17 billion, according to LSEG figures, but fell short of the $25.62 billion experts had projected. With this gain, Tesla has experienced its first modest growth in more than three years. The Austin, Texas-based company posted a gross margin of 17.6% for the three months that ended in December, which was lower than the average analyst projection of 18.3%. A 23.8% gross margin was reported by Tesla during the same quarter the previous year.
In addition to reporting record deliveries for the quarter, Tesla also reported lower costs for battery raw materials; nevertheless, price reductions and expenses related to the launch of its new Cybertruck reduced profitability.
Tesla always manages to make a comeback.
Tesla cut pricing multiple times last year, yet it still managed to deliver the 1.8 million cars it had planned to.
Longtime Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber criticized CEO Elon Musk’s leadership today and voiced worries about the company’s direction and dynamic pricing strategy during an interview on FOX Business’ “The Claman Countdown.”
This month, Volvo and Tesla announced that they were ceasing some of their European production due to a shortage of parts resulting from shipping being rerouted away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of the threat posed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. As a result of a shortage of parts on ships that were routed around the southern tip of Africa or the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Red Sea and Suez Canal, Tesla notified Reuters that it would be suspending most car production at its Gigafactory near Berlin from January 29 to February 11.
However, after Musk stated that it would be challenging to ramp up new car production, Tesla shares may have dropped 6.5% in premarket trading. Before the new model’s release, Tesla also warned of a notable slowdown in sales growth this year. Musk suggested it would take time and “a tremendous amount of new revolutionary manufacturing technology” to accelerate Tesla’s lagging growth pace.
Featured Image Credit: Roberto Nickson; Pexels
