(BFM Bourse) – The automaker unveiled mixed results in the fourth quarter. But Elon Musk’s statements to analysts on the strength of demand and production are pleasing to investors. The stock jumped on Wall Street.
Telsa is regaining momentum on Wall Street. The automaker specializing in electrics won 10.3% at the start of the session following the publication of its quarterly results and its prospects eagerly awaited by the market.
If the group reaped record profits in the fourth quarter, the results are actually mixed in terms of analysts’ expectations. Admittedly, revenues, at $24.32 billion, are higher than the consensus, which stood at $23.71 billion. The same is true for adjusted earnings per share at $ 1.19 against $ 1.12 expected on average by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Nevertheless, the automotive gross operating margin excluding CO2 emission credits granted to other manufacturers disappointed, standing at 24.3% against 26.4% expected by analysts, notes UBS.
Price drops work
Beyond these half-fig half-grape figures, it is Elon Musk’s comments that seduce the market, as Tesla shares really took off on Wednesday evening in post-closing trading, when the famous man of businessman was speaking in front of financial analysts.
As reported by Bloomberg and Reuters, Elon Musk sent reassuring signals on demand, the market’s big focus.
Tesla aims to increase its production by 50% each year, as well as its deliveries. However, over the whole of 2022, deliveries have only increased by 40% and production by 47%.
To boost its volumes, Tesla cut the prices of its models in Europe and the United States at the beginning of the month, after having already lowered its prices a few months earlier in China. Bernstein analysts also fear that this movement will put other manufacturers under pressure, in particular Volkswagen, Renault or Volvo.
“These price cuts really make a difference for the average consumer,” Elon Musk told analysts. Tesla’s chief executive also said orders in January were about twice the level of production in January. While the businessman said he expected “a pretty tough recession this year,” he assured that demand for Tesla “[serait] good despite probably a contraction of the automobile market as a whole”.
The group intends to produce 1.8 million vehicles this year. But Elon Musk explained to the financial community that this objective proved to be “cautious” and specified that production could be closer to 2 million vehicles, without “major” disruption.
The leader also indicated that the group’s electric pickup, Cybertruck, would not go into production before 2024.
Julien Marion – ©2023 BFM Bourse
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