On January 25th, Tesla released its 2023 full year financial report. Data shows that Tesla still maintains high-speed growth in production, delivery, and revenue. Tesla's total revenue reached 96.77 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; The net profit reached 15 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19%. In terms of new car delivery, Tesla achieved its annual delivery target of 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 38%, with Model Y delivering 1.2 million vehicles.
Specifically, Tesla's total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $25.17 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3%, lower than the previous analyst estimate of $25.87 billion. The net profit was 7.928 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 115%; In terms of gross profit margin, Tesla's gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 17.6%, while Tesla's gross profit margin for the whole year was 18.2%, a decrease from 2022. Tesla attributes the decline in profits to a decrease in the average selling price of its vehicles, as well as an increase in operating expenses driven in part by artificial intelligence and other research and development projects. In addition, Tesla's cash and investment increased by $3 billion quarter on quarter to $29.1 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Overall, Tesla's annual revenue in 2023 was lower than the high-speed growth of over 50% in the previous two years, and revenue growth significantly slowed down. In terms of market performance, Tesla conducted a series of sacrificing profits to maintain market share last year, such as conducting price reduction promotions in multiple countries and regions. In the Chinese market, the average transaction price of Tesla Model 3 decreased by 34000 yuan to 262000 yuan compared to 2022; The average transaction price of Model Y has decreased by nearly 50000 yuan, entering within 300000 yuan.
However, Tesla is still "obsessed" with research and development. Last year, the R&D expenses for the entire year were 3.969 billion US dollars (approximately 28.39 billion yuan), reaching a historical high, equivalent to the sum of R&D expenses of several new automotive forces. Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated on the earnings conference call that focusing on process innovation and product development has become Tesla's DNA. In 2024, Tesla will continue to increase investment in product research and development to bring better products to consumers. Musk stated that despite reaching the highest levels of capital expenditure and research and development expenses in the company's history, Tesla's free cash flow remained strong in 2023, reaching $4.4 billion.
Tesla's bicycle costs continued to decline in the fourth quarter. "In 2024, our team will continue to focus on increasing production, investing in future growth, and seeking possibilities to further reduce costs and improve efficiency," Musk said.
However, Tesla warned investors in its financial report that the vehicle growth rate in 2024 may be "significantly lower" than in 2023. Tesla stated that it is currently between two major growth waves. The first wave began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform, and the next wave will be initiated by the global expansion of the next generation of cars.
In terms of electric vehicles, Musk predicts that the production and delivery of Tesla's Cyber off-road wagon will continue to grow in 2024. It is reported that by the end of January this year, Tesla's Cyber off-road wagon will make its debut in mainland China and will be showcased nationwide along with the entire range of S3XY models.
Tesla is rapidly developing in its artificial intelligence and energy businesses. In the fourth quarter, Tesla's fully autonomous driving test version V12 has been opened to some employees and customers. This version adopts an end-to-end training mode to enhance and enhance the driving experience, accelerating the arrival of the era of intelligent driving.
In late December 2023, Tesla began promoting the fully autonomous driving test version V12 (FSD Beta) in North America. By training on data from over one million vehicles, the system uses artificial intelligence technology to influence vehicle control (such as operating the steering wheel, pedals, turn signals, etc.), rather than hardcoding every driving behavior. Musk believes that V12 marks a new era towards autonomous driving. At the same time, he also revealed that he will be committed to pushing the next generation platform to the market, and the new platform will completely change the way vehicles are manufactured.
The performance of energy storage business is also impressive, with a total installed capacity of 14.7 gigawatt hours in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 125%, more than twice that of 2022. Meanwhile, the profits of the energy generation and storage business have almost quadrupled in 2023, and Tesla expects the installed capacity of energy storage to continue to grow in the next year. Musk said in a conference call, "The growth rate of energy storage business will be much faster than that of vehicle business, and now we have achieved it." It is reported that Tesla's gross profit in services and other businesses has increased from negative $500 million in 2019 to $500 million in 2023.