Posted Oct 20, 2022, 1:04 PM
The stock market reacts badly to the publication of quarterly figures from Tesla, the action of the manufacturer of electric vehicles falling 5% in New York. If the net profit exceeded analysts’ expectations, at $1.05 per share, against $0.99 expected, the turnover was disappointed, at $21.45 billion, below the 21 .96 billion anticipated.
A commercial underperformance which nevertheless seems hardly surprising, insofar as Tesla delivered fewer vehicles than expected in the third quarter, at 343,830 copies, while analysts were hoping for 371,000. It is also less than the 365,923 vehicles that were manufactured over the period. We already knew that the target of 1.5 million cars produced this year would be difficult to achieve. He won’t. At the end of September and over the nine months combined, they amounted to a very exact total of 929,910. Tesla would therefore have to manufacture 570,000 copies in the last quarter, a very sharp increase of 86% compared to the 305,840 vehicles produced in the last three months of 2021. Unachievable.
“In the rearview mirror, not through the windshield”
Elon Musk remains, however, foot to the floor » (« pedal to the metal “), whatever the environment (” come rain or shine “), as he declared on Wednesday evening during the presentation of the quarterly accounts. The group will continue to produce to the maximum of its industrial capacities, assured the businessman and founder of the company, ” recession or no recession “. A recession of which he sees signs in China and Europe while in the United States, he believes that the American Federal Reserve raises its interest rates too strongly. ” The latest Fed decisions make sense if you look in the rearview mirror, but not through the windshield. »
As for the sector in general, even in the current context of rising costs, the boss of the firm remains convinced of Tesla’s strengths. ” The general public realizes that the world is moving towards electric vehicles and it is foolish to buy a new petrol car at this point because the residual value of this petrol car will be very lowsaid Elon Musk. So we are in a very good position. »
$57,000 per vehicle
The results could have been even better, because they were weighed down by the strength of the dollar compared to other major currencies, by the increase in the costs of logistics and raw materials, and finally by the administrative delays and difficulties observed in the last installations. battery factories in Germany and Texas. But Tesla was able to pass on this cost inflation in its selling prices, as evidenced by the increase in selling prices, which increased from $49,000 to $57,000 on average over the quarter in the space of a year.
As for this end of the year, We have excellent demand for the fourth quarter and plan to sell every car we make as far back as we can anticipate in our orders. “, said Elon Musk during his conference call with investors. They will pay particular attention to how quickly Tesla can ramp up production of its mainstream Model Y SUV from new factories in Austin and Berlin, a key step for the automaker.