Red Star Capital Bureau reported on January 25th that Tesla (TSLA. US) released its 2023 annual report and fourth quarter financial report today. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla's total revenue was $25.17 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3%, lower than analysts' estimate of $25.87 billion; The net profit was 7.928 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 115%; Free cash flow of 2.06 billion US dollars, analysts expect 1.45 billion US dollars; Adjusted earnings per share were $0.71, lower than analyst expectations of $0.73.
In 2023, Tesla's total revenue was $96.773 billion (approximately RMB 692.2 billion), a year-on-year increase of 18.79%; Net profit of 15 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19%; The operating profit margin was 9.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 7.6 percentage points.
Tesla's gross profit margin for the entire year of 2023 was 18.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 7.35 percentage points. In the fourth quarter, the gross profit margin continued to decline to 17.6%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points month on month and a year-on-year decrease of over 6.2 percentage points, lower than the analyst's expected 18.1%. The decrease in gross profit margin is mainly due to continuous price reductions, resulting in a decrease in the average selling price of vehicles. Tesla delivered a total of 1.8086 million new vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 37.65%, reaching its annual sales target of 1.8 million vehicles. The Model Y delivered over 1.2 million vehicles throughout the year, making it the world's best-selling car.
In response to unexpected performance, Tesla CEO Musk stated during the earnings conference call that "Tesla is currently in between two major 'growth waves'. The first wave began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform, and the next growth wave will be initiated by the global expansion of the next-generation automotive platform.". He revealed that the next generation of cars is expected to be put into production in the second half of 2025.
Tesla abnormally did not provide specific delivery targets for 2024. The company warns that the sales growth rate in 2024 will "significantly decrease" as the next generation of cars is being developed.
During the financial report conference call, someone asked if Tesla expects to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 50% in sales by 2024 or 2025. Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja pointed out that Tesla will not grow at the same rate as before in certain periods. Analysts predict that Tesla's car sales this year will be about 2.2 million units, a year-on-year increase of about 20%.
Tesla also stated that in 2024, the deployment and revenue growth of its energy storage business should surpass that of its automotive business. In 2023, Tesla's energy division saw a 54% increase in revenue, reaching $6.04 billion.
The Cybertruck electric pickup truck will increase production and expand delivery in 2024. Tesla stated, "Considering its manufacturing complexity, we expect the slopes of the Cybertruck to be longer than other models." Tesla currently has the ability to produce over 125000 Cybertrucks annually.
According to the financial report, in late December 2023, Tesla began promoting the fully autonomous driving test version V12 (FSD Beta) in North America.
Musk publicly stated during the earnings conference call that Chinese car companies are very impressive and they may achieve success outside of China. Musk said, "If there were no trade barriers, they would dominate." He pointed out that although Tesla is willing to provide assistance in supercharging networks and FSD licensing, opportunities for cooperation with Chinese OEMs are not obvious.
Musk also stated that he is seeking additional control over Tesla so that he can have greater influence in the company's handling of artificial intelligence and robotics technology. I don't want to control it, he doesn't want to be vetoed by a random shareholder consulting firm.
Affected by the financial report, Tesla's stock price fell more than 5% after trading and then shrank to about 3%. On January 25th, Tesla closed at $207.83 per share, and its stock price has fallen more than 16% so far this year. Despite some concerns about Tesla's profit margin and demand outlook, most analysts still offer a target stock price of over $300 per share.