Tesla posts record fourth-quarter earnings, earnings beat expectations
Tesla posted record fourth-quarter and full-year earnings in a breakthrough year despite supply chain struggles.
The company had $5.5 billion in net income last year compared to the previous record of $3.47 billion in net income in 2020. It was the third year of profitability for the electric vehicle and solar panel maker.
Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, said in a call with investors on Wednesday evening that the company's accumulated profits had become positive in the first year of 2021. I think we are a real company at this point. Tesla moved its headquarters from California to Texas last year, delivering a record number of 936,000 vehicles last year, nearly double the 2020 figure. Fourth-quarter vehicle sales hit 308,600, a first.
The numbers fell short of the 1 m vehicles promised by the company, but came in the face of a shortage of computer chips that has slowed the entire auto industry.
Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com said that Tesla executed flawlessly in the quarter, with Musk doing an outstanding job navigating through global supply shortages.
Musk said to investors that the company would look to build new factories over the next year, and that it would announce new locations by the end of 2022.
Musk is often criticised for his self-driving timelines, having fallen short on those promises in the past.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the company for safety concerns with its Autopilot features. The investigation focused on 12 crashes in which Tesla owners collided with stationary vehicles, resulting in 17 injuries and one fatality.
Ahead of Tesla's report, Musk tweeted that he had been driving a prototype of Tesla's forthcoming electric pickup truck, Cybertruck, around the company's factory in Austin, Texas, saying it's awesome. Musk said that the release of that vehicle and its other forthcoming model, the Roadster, would be delayed until next year to focus more on scaling output of existing models in 2022.
If we were to introduce new vehicles, our total vehicle output will decrease, Musk said. We will not be introducing new vehicle models this year. He also addressed questions about the potential for a more affordable Tesla, a topic investors have focused on after Musk hinted at a $25,000 electric car. Musk said Tesla is not currently working on it.
Musk said we have enough on our plate right now. Too much, frankly. According to Refinitiv, Musk spoke about a humanoid robot that could help build cars, something he previously announced in August 2020 and called it the most important product development we're doing this year, because analysts expect December-quarter revenue to be up 53% to $16.41 bn and adjusted earnings per share of $2.32.
Analysts said Tesla s two new factories in Texas and Berlin could double production capacity, but it is not clear whether Tesla has started production.
Alyssa Altman, analyst at the consultancy Publicis Sapient said that while production is not ready everywhere, the fact that they are getting the facilities ready quickly and are building in flexible and new technologies will help them continue their rise.
Despite the positive report, the stock fell after-hours trading despite Musk admitting that supply chain issues could present headwinds for Tesla's progress in 2022.