Tesla survived a difficult year, losing about $ 675 billion in market valuation.

Car sales

The company expected to "sell every car we make as far in the future as possible," Musk said as Tesla posted a near-record quarterly profit.

Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker said Monday it delivered about 1.31 million vehicles last year, about 40% more than in 2021. The company would need to deliver more than 1.4 million vehicles to meet its initial target of increasing deliveries by 50% or more.

From analyst estimates compiled by FactSet, as of December 31, 2022, Wall Street expected Tesla to report deliveries of around 427,000 in the final quarter of the year. Estimates updated in December and included in the FactSet consensus ranged from 409,000 to 433,000.

Tesla said changes to manufacturing and distribution practices to help lower vehicle costs led to more cars in transit at the end of the quarter.

Tesla car prices

Strong vehicle prices helped Tesla generate nearly $3.3 billion in quarterly profit for the three months ended September, beating the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet. That's not much compared to the company's record quarterly profit of over $3.3 billion, set in the first quarter.

Tesla has repeatedly raised the price of its vehicles as parts have become more expensive and new cars hard to come by due to supply chain bottlenecks. Tesla cars averaged about $57,000 in the third quarter, up from about $49,000 a year earlier, analysts polled by FactSet estimated, boosting company revenue and mitigating lower-than-expected third-quarter deliveries.

Moreover, the automaker may have to cut vehicle prices by $1,800 to $4,500 from Q3 2022 levels.

Shareholders

Musk, Tesla's largest shareholder, sold over $15 billion in Tesla stock this year, indicating that at least some of the proceeds will be used to fund his $44 billion Twitter deal. Some investors fear he may have to sell more to close the deal.

The billionaire entrepreneur said the company's board of directors is considering the idea of buying back Tesla shares and it is likely that the company will pursue a "significant buyout". He put forward the idea of a buyout of around $5 billion to $10 billion in 2023.

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Problems

The company idled its car factory in Shanghai on multiple occasions, early on because of local pandemic restrictions, then again in December as it faced a wave of Covid-19 infections among workers and suppliers.

In October, Musk characterized Tesla as "recession-proof", saying, "We're going to pedal to the metal whether it's raining or shining. So we're not reducing our production in any significant way, whether in a recession or not." But now, Musk suggested exacly last month that the higher interest-rate environment was hurting vehicle demand. In a year-end sales push, Tesla offered discounts to many buyers who agreed to take delivery of vehicles before January.

Demand problems will continue until Tesla introduces a cheaper vehicle in large numbers, which is not on the horizon any time soon.

Tesla share price

Shares have been falling since December 9. The biggest decrease in the month and the beginning of the year was recorded on December 27, 110, at the level of 109.10. It then surged to above 120. The new year started with Tesla stock price below 120 (118.93). So the trade will be on the tenth day around 120.

Source: wsj.com, finance.yahoo.com