It was our best year ever on every level
TL;DR
✅ Revenue of $24.3 billion, a 37% increase vs a year ago and $160 million more than analysts forecasted
✅ Net profit of $3.7 billion that equated to $1.19 per share, beating analyst predictions of $1.13 earnings per share
✅ Tesla shares increased 4% to $149, then plateaued at 1.7%
✅ Reported record delivery and sales of vehicles
❌ A 64% rise in operating costs left Tesla reporting its worst gross profit margin since 2021. Musk puts this down to high interest rates and relentless hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Hitting the brakes on prices
So what drove the positive results?
Well, to help address issues with demand, Tesla slashed prices up to 30%. The Model Y sold for just under $53,000, a drop of $13,000. This helped spur 405,000 sales in Q4 - a company record.
You'd think this would affect net profit, but Tesla still managed to outperform analyst predictions of $1.13 earnings per share by $1.19 per share.
Elon-gated chaos
Despite being one of the most successful businessmen of our era, chaos follows Musk more than a moth to a Boring Company flamethrower.
This week, Musk has been attending lawsuits regarding his 2018 tweet implying he'd be taking Tesla private, which is one of the reasons many investors struggle to put their faith in the world's second-richest man.
His ever lasting love affair with Twitter also has investors worried he's spreading himself too thin. After all, he does run Tesla, Space X, The Boring Company and Neuralink.
In typical Musk fashion though, he's argued the opposite is true when it comes to running Twitter:
Twitter is actually an incredibly powerful tool for driving demand for Tesla
Cybertruck looks to bring in the buck
This week, Tesla announced plans to expand a manufacturing facility in Nevada and hire 3,000 people as it ramps up production of its heavy-duty, fully electric truck, the Tesla Semi. To make this many hires comes at a good time, as many companies such as Meta and Microsoft are making vast layoffs.
Apparently, the company is still on track to start production of its Cybertruck this year, though we know promises from Musk should always be taken with a pinch of salt.
Despite promising results, Musk has stated the economic environment needs "relentless cost control and cost innovation". High interest rates and relentless hikes from the Federal Reserve dramatically increased Tesla's operating costs by 64%.
How will Musk manage these economic conditions? Who knows, your guess is as good as ours!
As with all investing, your capital is at risk.
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