Through restructuring production processes, distribution models, pricing strategies, and other innovations, Tesla has become synonymous with electric vehicles for over a decade. But the company's revenue growth rate has slowed down since last year, with net profit halving and gross profit margin falling below 18% in the third quarter.
Analysts from investment banks Piper Sandler and Morgan Stanley both stated that Tesla's gross profit outlook is not optimistic, and it is expected that the automotive profit margin in 2024 may further drop to 10%, and it is not ruled out that Tesla's core operating profit margin may become negative in a single quarter.
A report released by Morgan Stanley on Tuesday showed that automotive investors are cautious about Tesla due to intensified industry competition and the company's lack of high-yield new products in 2024.
Tesla has implemented a price reduction policy globally since the beginning of the year. Multiple factors such as rising interest rates and economic slowdown have caused domestic electric vehicle sales in the United States to stagnate, and Ford and Lucid have also lowered prices by nearly $10000. In Tesla's second largest market in China, more new force models that focus on intelligent driving are competing with it.
After reconsidering its technical configuration and product design, Xiaopeng has launched the Xiaopeng G6, while Huawei Hongmeng Zhixing has successively launched several important products, including the Zhijie S7, Wenjie New M7, and Wenjie M9. A new M7 owner from Wenjie in Beijing told Interface News that the biggest difference in the test drive experience is that Tesla can only use assisted driving on some highways, while Wenjie will open a map free advanced intelligent driving service in China by the end of the year.
Tesla is pushing for the full self drive solution FSD (Full Self Drive) to enter China, but it still faces two major thresholds: qualifications and data, and the time to land is uncertain.
In response to its strong Chinese competitors, Tesla is attempting to make improvements beyond intelligence, and the new Model 3 has undergone exterior adjustments. Bloomberg reported that Tesla is preparing a new Model Y model at its Shanghai super factory, with significant changes to its exterior and interior. Mass production may begin as early as mid next year. Interface News has requested confirmation from Tesla, but they have responded that there is currently no relevant information.
Tesla has not yet announced any plans to launch a new car next year. The highly anticipated electric pickup truck Cybertruck delivered its first batch of 10 vehicles in early December, but due to the production speed of 4680 batteries and the difficulty of manufacturing stainless steel bodies, it is still far from its annual production target of 250000 vehicles.
Tesla was once the main target of bears on Wall Street, the second highest proportion of bears outside of Apple in the US stock market. According to data from S3 partners, the current net short position on Tesla stocks is approximately $18.63 billion, accounting for 3.03% of the total outstanding shares.
At present, Paijie Investment and Morgan Stanley still maintain their "overweight" rating on Tesla. Analysts point out that Tesla is both an automotive and artificial intelligence company, and Optimus humanoid robots, Dojo supercomputers, and even the space exploration company SpaceX, which has a partnership with Tesla, may become potential favorable factors.
Tesla's core business is still automotive, but the company has made autonomous driving a key factor in profitability. Dojo not only supports the development of autonomous vehicle, but also supports the licensing of autonomous technologies to other companies. FSD's business revenue has performed well globally, with a year-on-year increase of 30% in the third quarter to $2.17 billion.
On Tuesday noon, Tesla's stock price rose 2% to $257.61 per share, with a six-month increase of approximately 6.5%.