Tesla posts record $12.6 billion profit in 2022

new York Tesla earned more in 2022 than ever before in a fiscal year. Elon Musk’s electric car maker increased profits by 128 percent year-on-year to $12.6 billion. Tesla announced this on Wednesday evening (local time). Sales grew 51 percent to $81.5 billion.

Tesla wants to “expand production as quickly as possible” in 2023 and plans to deliver 50 percent more cars every year. Profit and sales in the final quarter (3.7 and 24.3 billion dollars) remained slightly below expectations, according to the analysis company Factset.

In 2022, Tesla missed its 50 percent growth target. The group delivered around 1.3 million vehicles, more than ever before and an increase of 40 percent. Since then, Wall Street has been concerned that Tesla is hitting a ceiling after years of rapid growth. Recent price cuts had fueled concerns that demand for Tesla cars could wane.

Tesla lost around $675 billion in market capitalization last year. The course collapsed by 65 percent – ​​a negative record. Since the turn of the year, however, the stock has recovered somewhat and has since risen by a third. Investors also reacted cautiously positively to the latest figures on Wednesday: the share gained around one percent in after-hours trading.

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“2022 was a fantastic year for Tesla,” Musk said at the analyst conference. You have achieved an operating return of almost 17 percent, more than any other carmaker. This is a great result – especially against the background of several lockdowns in China, high inflation, economic concerns and supply chain problems.

Uncertain economic environment

Musk countered concerns that demand for Tesla’s cars could collapse, especially in China: demand exceeds production by a factor of two, he explained.

At the same time, Tesla acknowledged that the uncertain economic environment was driving the group: “In the short term, we are accelerating our cost-cutting plan and aiming for higher production rates.” Musk emphasized that the car market is expected to shrink in 2023, but feels prepared for a recession – too thanks to a cash inventory of $20 billion.

In recent weeks, Tesla has tried to boost demand by lowering the prices of its vehicles by up to 20 percent. This was also done to benefit from the new subsidies from US President Joe Biden’s climate packages. Musk emphasized on Wednesday evening that the price cuts are also about the “affordability” of their own vehicles for broad groups of buyers.

Musk reported progress when ramping up production at the new locations in Berlin and Austin, where there were clearly problems in 2022. Production costs have fallen significantly at both locations. Tesla has also increased the production of batteries.

Unspecific statements on problem topics

Musk commented relatively briefly on the three largest construction sites of the group. On the subject of autopilot, he explained that 400,000 customers use “Full-Self Driving Beta”, the most advanced version. 100 million miles have already been driven with it. Customers would get the most comprehensive autopilot system on the market. The safety stats are also “excellent,” Musk said.

Recently, numerous accidents related to the use of Tesla Autopilot made headlines. The US traffic regulator NHTSA and other authorities are taking a critical look at the system.

Important for Tesla’s future is the launch of the Cybertruck, the pick-up that is supposed to occupy America’s most popular car segment. Introduced in 2019, the market launch was further delayed. The start of production was last expected for 2023. In the conference call, Musk admitted that the truck won’t be significant for Tesla in 2023 either – “but next year.” The Cybertruck is an “incredible product,” Musk said. “I will drive the Cybertruck every day.”

From an investor’s point of view, Musk’s renewed promise of 2024 is bad news. Ford has been reporting sales records with its Lightning electric pick-up for the past year. GM’s Silverado is also in great demand. Finally, at the beginning of the year, the number three of the traditional manufacturers, Stellantis, presented an electric version of its RAM pickup.

Musk’s escapades surrounding the controversial takeover of the short message service Twitter were also a topic. “Twitter is incredibly powerful to fuel demand,” Musk defended. The net benefit of Twitter is gigantic, he said without going into detail.

Twitter leadership has been eating up a large chunk of Musk’s time since the fall of 2022. Investors were also angry about the Tesla share sales to finance the deals worth around $ 44 billion.

Tesla named “Most Valuable Company in the World”

Tesla continues to work flat out to deliver the semi electric truck. On December 1st, the first Tesla Semi was handed over to PepsiCo. The US food giant ordered 100 electric trucks from Tesla in 2017.

Musk promised that Tesla would again be “the most valuable company in the world” in the future. The group is at least as much a software as a hardware company. “We’re getting closer and closer to mastering the use of artificial intelligence for the real world.”

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates continues to believe that fierce competition in the electric car market is “a very real threat, especially in China”. It cannot be ruled out “that Tesla will be overtaken”. The ongoing legal proceedings over Musk’s previous Twitter statements have also created a distraction. “The last thing serious investors want is to see their CEO on the witness stand,” Lund-Yates said.

“The company will never go back to its incredibly overvalued days,” agrees Alyssa Altman of consulting firm Publicis Sapient. But with the knowledge that Musk will be retiring from Twitter in the near future and that he can weather the recession, “Tesla’s future looks bright”.

Tesla aims to sell around 20 million vehicles by 2030, a number that would make the group by far the largest automaker. There are doubts in the industry that this goal can be implemented. Toyota and Volkswagen currently have an annual production of ten million vehicles – each in several dozen factories around the world. According to Musk, Tesla would need a dozen factories to achieve the goal.

Only on Tuesday did the billionaire announce plans to invest more than $3.6 billion in two new gigafactories in Nevada. Electric trucks and batteries are to be produced there.

Muted in tone, Musk continued to be optimistic about the future on Wednesday night. In a few years, a Chinese competitor will likely be the second largest automaker in the world – allegedly after Tesla.

More: Musk defends tweets in investor lawsuit

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