Tesla Releases Fourth Quarter Result, Misses Wall Street Revenue Prediction But Beats Earnings

Automaker and clean energy company Tesla on Wednesday released its fourth-quarter results, missing wall street revenue prediction but surpassed that of earnings.

The Wall Street consensus for Tesla’s Fourth quarter (Q4) earnings was $24.6 billion in revenue and earnings of $1.13 per share. Meanwhile, Tesla’s revenue was down $280 million from wall street expectations, after it posted a revenue of $24.32 billion million but beat the earnings expectations with $1.19 per share.

At the end of the Fourth quarter (Q4), Tesla had $1.4 billion in free cash flow, down from the $3.3 billion cash flow recorded in the third quarter. Its stock witnessed a 3.2% spike to $149 per share after the earnings report became public and has continued to rise to $151.52 in the premarket.

Tesla closed the quarter (Q4) with a 16% operating margin, while its Automotive gross margins came in at 25.9%, the lowest figure in the last five quarters. Also, its operating cash flow was down 29% from last year, and down 36% from last quarter, coming in at $3.28 billion.

In terms of deliveries, the company disclosed it produced over 439,000 vehicles and delivered over 405,000 vehicles, bringing Tesla’s 2022 full-year deliveries to around 1.31 million vehicles.

Investors King understands that in 2022, the automaker slashed the prices of its vehicles around the world, a strategy that sparked demand for its vehicles.

Speaking on the slash of its vehicles, the company CEO Elon Musk said, “Price matters, the vast number of people that want to buy a Tesla car, can’t afford it, and so these price changes really make a difference for the average consumer.”

In October 2022, Tesla announced price cuts in China by up to 9% on the Model 3 and Model Y, reducing prices further by nearly 14%.

Earlier this month, it lowered the price of its long-range Model Y crossover (20% to $52,990) and Model 3 Sedan (14% to 53990) for U.S. buyers.

Musk disclosed that after Tesla slashed the prices of its vehicles, January saw the strongest demand ever in Tesla’s history, which he said that the demand exceeded production.

On the other hand, Tesla on Tuesday announced plans to invest $3.6 billion more into its Gigafactory in Nevada, adding two new facilities dedicated to building battery cells and Tesla semis, as it disclosed plans to boost production by 50% this year.