Tesla misses fourth-quarter revenue estimates on weak auto sales and warns of lower volume growth in 2024

Tesla reported revenue and profit for the fourth quarter that missed analysts’ estimates as auto sales increased just 1% from a year earlier. The stock slid in extended trading.

Here are the key numbers:

• Earnings: 71 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 74 cents per share expected by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $25.17 billion vs. $25.6 billion expected by LSEG.

Total revenue increased 3% from $24.3 billion a year earlier. Operating margin for the quarter came in at 8.2%, down from the year-ago quarter’s figure of 16% and slightly higher than 7.6% in the prior quarter.

While other U.S. automakers struggled to make and sell a high volume of fully electric vehicles last year, Tesla reported 484,507 deliveries in the fourth quarter and more than 1.8 million for 2023. Hefty price cuts helped Tesla achieve that number, which was a record for the company.

Net income for the quarter more than doubled to $7.9 billion from $3.7 billion a year earlier.

During the quarter, Tesla began selling Cybertrucks to customers. The company said in its investor presentation that, “We expect the ramp of Cybertruck to be longer than other models given its manufacturing complexity.” Tesla said it now has the capacity to build more than 125,000 Cybertruck vehicles in a year.

Tesla’s labor costs are rising in the U.S.. In order to make its wages competitive versus automakers like General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, where employees are represented by the United Auto Workers, Tesla recently rolled out pay increases for many of its hourly factory employees in the U.S.

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