The electric car manufacturer delivered an even greater fall in turnover and profit than expected. At the same time, Tesla promises that new cheap models will be launched more quickly.
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Tesla opened the accounting books for the first three months of the year on Tuesday evening.
Revenue fell to $21.3 billion in the first quarter, the quarterly report shows.
In advance, analysts believed that revenues would fall to $22.3 billion, according to estimates obtained by Bloomberg. In the same quarter in 2023, Tesla had sales of 23.3 billion dollars.
The last time the electric car manufacturer experienced a fall in revenue on an annual basis was in the second quarter of 2020, early in the corona pandemic.
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The profit also fell more than the analysts had predicted, and has almost halved from the same time last year.
The profit before tax came in at 1.13 billion dollars, and 0.34 dollars per share. In advance, it was expected that the result after tax would come in at 1.47 billion dollars, or 0.41 dollars per share.
Adjusted earnings were also weaker than expected at $1.54 billion, or $0.45 per share.
The gross margin, on the other hand, came in at 17.4 per cent, which was stronger than expected.
Promises cheap model faster
In addition to the financial aspects, there has been tension in advance about whether Tesla will give hints or pointers on two topics.
One is the plans for a cheaper Tesla, referred to as “Model 2”. The second is the plans for Tesla’s self-driving taxis, after Elon Musk earlier in April in a message on X/Twitter announced a “Tesla Robotaxi unveiling” on August 8.
Tesla writes in today’s report that the plans for new car models have been updated, so that the launch is accelerated to an earlier than previously announced start of production in the second half of 2025.
That includes cheaper models.
The Tesla share rises in after-trade despite the weak financial figures. The share is up 9.2 percent just before 23.
Furthermore, the company writes that the update may mean that costs cannot be cut as much as previously expected. The faster launch pace should nevertheless make it possible “to increase car volume in a more investment-efficient way in uncertain times”.
Disappointing sales, redundancies and stock crashes
It has been a difficult start to the year for Tesla in several ways.
The stock has been on a roll in recent months. Since the new year, it is down more than 40 percent. Tesla shares rose on Tuesday ahead of the figures release, but fell before that for seven days in a row.
Sales figures were disappointingly low in the first quarter, the update showed earlier in April. Tesla delivered 386,810 cars in the first three months of 2024. That was miles away from analysts’ expectations of 449,080 cars, and the lowest in more than a year.
In today’s report, Tesla writes that global electric car sales “continue to be under pressure as many car manufacturers prioritize hybrid cars over electric cars”.
Tesla lowered prices several times during last year, and the company continued with price cuts worldwide this past weekend.
In the USA, the three models Y, X and S were around 2,000 dollars cheaper, while the cut in China also applied to the Model 3. Here in Norway, the price of the Model 3 was reduced by NOK 23,000.
In addition, it became clear last week that Tesla is cutting more than 10 percent of its workforce globally. Elon Musk informed the employees about this in an email, according to Bloomberg.
At the same time, the Tesla board has asked the shareholders to approve a controversial salary package worth over 600 billion to Elon Musk. The Tesla boss himself has postponed a visit to India.
