[HN Gopher] Tesla Q4 2023 Earnings Report [pdf]
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       Tesla Q4 2023 Earnings Report [pdf]
        
       Author : mfiguiere
       Score  : 48 points
       Date   : 2024-01-24 21:57 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (digitalassets.tesla.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (digitalassets.tesla.com)
        
       | epolanski wrote:
       | Unsurprisingly to anyone who understands how tough the auto
       | industry is, Tesla's long term growth expectations were not
       | realistic.
       | 
       | On the other hand having the best selling vehicle on the planet
       | is a gargantuan achievement Tesla should be proud of.
       | 
       | Curious about its future beyond cars. Musk described Tesla like
       | 15 startups under one company.
        
         | mgiannopoulos wrote:
         | Tesla Energy generated a record $6B in revenue in 2023, up 54%
         | YoY. So, that's something to look at.
        
           | alphabettsy wrote:
           | It might be the strongest growth prospect going forward.
           | Other EVs using their chargers and commercial customers using
           | their power solutions.
        
           | bdcravens wrote:
           | Tesla's end game is infrastructure, not cars.
        
         | mgiannopoulos wrote:
         | Also, auto gross margins ex credits, came in at 17%. It marks
         | the end of four consecutive quarters of margin decline, up from
         | 16.3% in the Sep-23.
        
         | nine_zeros wrote:
         | Infinite growth is a fantasy. But Tesla certainly pushed a
         | lethargic market to the future. An epic company at the whims of
         | the quarterly analyst.
        
         | toomuchtodo wrote:
         | They sold cars to stoke demand for batteries [1] and prove the
         | world could move to EVs. They used battery manufacturing to
         | scale up to build and sell utility scale storage [2]. Nimble
         | companies should always be prepared to pivot and maximize
         | opportunities based on core competencies if they are to survive
         | (Kodak and Xerox are examples of not doing this). If their EV
         | business becomes second to legacy auto, but the org keeps
         | expanding power controls and storage, is that a loss? They
         | already forced every other automaker to go electric. The global
         | energy market is somewhat larger than the light vehicle market,
         | and batteries will be required to phase out every last fossil
         | generator (not for energy arbitrage primarily, but for grid
         | stability). The product is riding the global energy transition.
         | 
         | (early Tesla investor, no current exposure)
         | 
         | [1]
         | https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/g...
         | 
         | [2] https://www.tesla.com/megafactory
        
           | dragontamer wrote:
           | Except Panasonic owns the cell-manufacturing portion of the
           | Nevada Gigafactory. And Panasonic can sell those cells to
           | anyone.
        
             | toomuchtodo wrote:
             | But they don't, because Tesla's demand is voracious and
             | they are a proven partner. Relationships matter.
        
           | epistasis wrote:
           | Cars are a much higher margin way to sell storage than
           | selling it without the attached car. Or at least that has
           | been the justification in the past for Tesla prioritizing
           | shipping cars over more grid storage.
           | 
           | I don't think that's changed, as grid scale storage is a cut
           | throat market. Maybe residential storage paired with solar
           | will have higher margins, but the limit there is regulatory,
           | and there's also ample competition in the solar market.
           | 
           | Which is to say, cars really seem to be Tesla's best bet and
           | core driver of other value, IMHO.
        
         | jandrese wrote:
         | Yeah, their valuation being based on the assumption of infinite
         | exponential growth was always going to smack into the cold hard
         | reality of the S curve at some point. But Tesla could lose a
         | massive amount of valuation and still be overpriced, especially
         | compared to other large car companies like GM, Ford,
         | Stellantis, BMW, and BYD.
         | 
         | The only thing saving Tesla from being absolutely clobbered in
         | the market today, at least in the US, is the competitors doing
         | some baffling and outright dumb things with their own EVs. Like
         | Toyota announcing that they think EVs are a fad and aren't
         | worth pursuing. Or GM ditching its only EV that actually sells
         | for some vague promise of a car that is at least 2 years away.
         | 
         | I also think the lower numbers for last year are due to dumping
         | tons of money into a truck platform that seems unlikely to be a
         | good seller. I'm expecting that once you factor in all of the
         | R&D costs the Cybertruck will be a net negative for Tesla with
         | poor sales and low (for Tesla) margins.
        
           | b33j0r wrote:
           | They oversold the Cybertruck for how long it took and what it
           | ended up being/costing. The market for it was maybe
           | irrationally exuberant a few years ago, but a lot of that
           | evaporated just from consumer ADHD and years of examples of
           | new tech ideas with more options.
           | 
           | (Speaking of the ADHD customers, I guess I can get $100
           | back?)
        
           | coliveira wrote:
           | Tesla is lucky in the US, but in several parts of the world
           | BYD is beating them hard. BYD is selling the most units, and
           | they are not even allowed to compete in the USA.
        
       | chollida1 wrote:
       | Numbers:
       | 
       | - Q4 Gross Margins 17.6%, EST. 18.1%, down 6.12% YoY
       | 
       | - Q4 automotive margins 17.2% ahead of 16.3% Q3, bullish
       | 
       | - Q4 Adjusted EPS $0.71, EST. $0.73c, down 40% YoY
       | 
       | - Q4 FCF $2.06B, EST. $1.45B, up 45% YoY
       | 
       | - Q4 Rev. $25.2B, EST. $25.9B, up 3% YoY
       | 
       | - Solar deployed 41 Megawatts, not very exciting, really lagging
       | competitors here.
       | 
       | - revenue from credits sold to other companies was $433M down
       | from $550 Q3
       | 
       | - this should eventually go to zero over the next 10 years
       | 
       | - 1.2M Model Y's sold,
       | 
       | Notes:
       | 
       | - EV sales in general rose by about 50% last year in the US
       | 
       | - TSLA now under 50% of EV market in the US, still absurdly good,
       | but falling
       | 
       | - TSLA note growth in 2024 "may be notably lower" than 2023, but
       | refused to offer guidance
       | 
       | - energy storage doubled 2022, that's pretty awesome
       | 
       | - when will they stop manufacturing the S and X, they are pretty
       | minimal compared to the Y & 3 now
       | 
       | Look for:
       | 
       | - next gen(cheap cross over) "leaked" this morning, is that due
       | to bad numbers?                 - expected to deliver
       | 100,000/week of these after ramp up              - will this be
       | built outside of hte US to save money?
       | 
       | - dojo computer talk ($1B is alot to put into this space)
       | 
       | - will they break out cyber truck, or hide those numbers, note,
       | they dodged it and said it would take a long time to ramp up
       | 
       | - V12 FSD notes. What data will they release and will the shift
       | to NN to manage handling instead of hard coded rules work out?
       | 
       | - what are they making from super charging?
       | 
       | Thoughts:
       | 
       | - broke down below $200, options call writers win,
       | 
       | - Solar disappointing again, when will they spin that out and
       | focus?
        
         | jandrese wrote:
         | > - will this be built outside of the US to save money?
         | 
         | I hope not since that would disqualify it for the tax credit.
        
           | mrkstu wrote:
           | I believe Mexico would still qualify to to the free trade
           | agreement.
        
         | newfocogi wrote:
         | May be a typo but I'm seeing 10,000 next gen vehicles per week,
         | which is an order of magnitude less than you stated. Otherwise,
         | thanks for the great summary!
        
         | makeitdouble wrote:
         | Selling 50% more vehicles to end up with only 3% more revenue
         | is pretty big.
         | 
         | I'd assume we see a other big changes in the coming year with
         | either way stronger diversification or a huge dip in revenue
         | when the discounts' effect disappears and car sales slow down ?
        
       | cbeach wrote:
       | I'm surprised to see 38% YoY increase in Tesla deliveries (page
       | 8) in the last 12 months, despite the high interest rates (thus
       | expensive consumer finance) and the high price point of Tesla's
       | current range.
       | 
       | By comparison, Honda sales increased 33%, GM 14.1%, Ford 7.1%,
       | Toyota 6.6%, VW 6.7%, Stellantis down 1%
       | 
       | https://www.cbtnews.com/car-manufacturers-report-impressive-...
       | 
       | https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/around...
       | 
       | When Tesla release its $25K car, and when interest rates drop, I
       | suspect the march of Tesla on its rivals will continue apace.
        
         | jliptzin wrote:
         | You're subject to the same interest rates no matter what
         | vehicle you purchase. Base model 3 is not any more expensive
         | than a typical new ICE vehicle especially with the federal
         | credit, plus you save on gas and maintenance.
        
           | KerrAvon wrote:
           | and you get to broadcast your Nazi-adjacent virtue.
        
             | mvdtnz wrote:
             | What is the matter with you?
        
               | TMWNN wrote:
               | Pure, undiluted Musk Derangement Syndrome in action
        
             | bdcravens wrote:
             | I don't think it's fair to assume every customer is
             | adopting the values of that company's owner/leader. I say
             | this despite being someone who canceled a Model 3 order and
             | went with a different EV because of Elon's values.
        
           | jandrese wrote:
           | Base model 3 doesn't qualify for the tax credit. The only
           | Model 3 you can buy with the credit is the much more
           | expensive Performance edition.
        
             | jliptzin wrote:
             | Was that true in 2023? Don't know just what my friend told
             | me when he bought his model 3 a few months ago. He decided
             | to pull the trigger on it because it was the same price as
             | a brand new camry
        
       | lvl102 wrote:
       | That gross margin is coming down as competition ramps up. They
       | have two more years before Toyota rolls out new batteries. That
       | doesn't even include Rivian's cheaper competition model which
       | they will reveal in March. They have no FSD. They have no AI.
       | They have no "robots". All vaporwares. Doesn't help public
       | opinion of Elon Musk and Tesla changed dramatically in the past
       | 24 months. Progressives rather drive ICE than a Tesla.
        
         | B1FF_PSUVM wrote:
         | > two more years before Toyota rolls out new batteries.
         | 
         | "Or the horse may learn to sing."
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-24 23:00 UTC)