Tesla's first consecutive second consecutive year of profit this year does not produce new models to deal with supply chain tensions

Tencent Technology News On January 27, benefiting from the surge in electric vehicle sales around the world, especially in China and Europe, Tesla on Thursday announced its fourth quarter and 2021 earnings report that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Tesla's earnings report showed that the company's 2021 revenue was $53.823 billion, up from $31.536 billion in the same period last year; net profit was $5.519 billion, up 665% from $721 million in the same period last year, the highest in 19 years since listing. This is also the first consecutive year since Tesla went public to achieve profitability. However, Tesla also warned that supply chain problems affected by the epidemic will continue to limit the company's production capacity this year.

The following is Tesla's performance:

Fourth quarter of 2021

Adjusted diluted earnings per share: $2.52, better than $0.80 in the year-ago quarter and beating Wall Street's expectation of $2.26.

Revenue: $17,719 million, up 65 percent from $10,744 million in the year-ago quarter and exceeding Wall Street's estimate of $16.35 billion.

In 2021

Adjusted diluted earnings per share: $6.78, better than $2.24 in the year-ago quarter. Exceeded Wall Street's expectations of $6.39.

Revenue: $53,823 million, up from $31,536 million in the year-ago quarter and above Wall Street's expectation of $52.44 billion.

Among Tesla's fourth-quarter revenues, revenue from the electric vehicle business was $15.967 billion, up 71% from $9.314 billion in the year-ago quarter; revenue from the power generation and energy storage business was $688 million, down 8.5% from $752 million in the year-ago quarter and below Wall Street's expectations of $815 million; and revenue from services and other businesses was $1.064 billion, up from $678 million in the year-ago quarter.

For the entire year of 2021, Tesla's net profit attributable to common shareholders was $5.519 billion, up 665% from $721 million in the year-ago quarter. That profit, which includes nearly $1.5 billion in gains from the sale of carbon credits to traditional automakers, is down slightly from 2020.

Tesla's total evictions in the fourth quarter were 308,650 units, up 71 percent from 180,667 in the year-ago quarter; total electric vehicle production was 305,840 units, up 70 percent year-over-year. For the entire 2021 period, Tesla's total evictions totaled 936,222 units, slightly lower than the company's previous commitment of 1 million, but up 87 percent from 499,647 units in the same period last year; total electric vehicle production was 930,422 units, up 83 percent year-over-year. "2021 is a breakthrough year for Tesla," the company declared, "and the viability and profitability of electric vehicles should no longer be questioned." ”

Tesla has maintained a strong cash reserve over the past few quarters, a trend that continued in the fourth quarter. While the Texas Gigafactory and the Berlin Gigafactory are under construction, and the Shanghai Gigafact and Fremont plants are also being optimized, Tesla reported that the company still had $17.6 billion in cash on its books as of the end of the fourth quarter. Tesla generated $4.6 billion in cash in the fourth quarter. The company also said it was continuing to develop the Cyberruck pickup, but did not give a target date for production. Cybertruck was originally scheduled to go into production in 2021.

Production capacity continues to grow at a high rate

Tesla dominates the U.S. electric car market, but it's likely that it will eventually face some serious competition this year. Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai all described ambitious plans to launch new electric vehicles in the United States. Two fledgling electric car makers, Rivian and Lucid, have also just begun shipping cars designed to compete with Tesla.

Although the shortage of computer chips has limited production from other manufacturers for much of 2021, Tesla achieved growth in 2021. The EV maker was able to mitigate the impact of the shortage by switching to a more readily available chip type and writing new instructions or firmware embedded in the chip.

In addition to its existing plants in Fremont, California, and Shanghai, Tesla will need to ramp up capacity at new plants in Texas and Germany to maintain rapid growth. Tesla repeated its previous forecast in its earnings report, that is, it expects revenue to grow by an average of about 50% per year in the next few years. "Our goal is to ramp up production as quickly as possible, not only to increase capacity at our new plants in Austin and Berlin, but also to maximize the capacity of our existing plants in Fremont and Shanghai," the company said. We believe that the competitiveness of the EV market will depend on the ability to increase and increase capacity across the supply chain. ”

Tesla also said it hopes to start shipping Austin-made Model Y to customers. Due to a dispute with German authorities over licensing, the start of production of the plant near Berlin has been delayed. Tesla had expected to start producing electric vehicles at the German plant by the end of 2021.

No new models will be produced in 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that Tesla will not produce new models of electric vehicles in 2022 because of its focus on existing production and coping with supply chain constraints. "We're not going to launch new models this year," he said. "It doesn't make any sense. We will still be constrained by components. However, we're going to do a lot of engineering, tools, and so on to create these vehicles: cybertruck, Semi, Roadster, and the rumored $25,000 new electric car. ”

Musk announced last July that he would no longer participate in Tesla's earnings call unless he had something "really important" to say. Investors have been expecting Musk to be unveiled at the electric conference as Tesla falls behind schedules in delivering vehicles such as the Cyberteruck and Roadster.

Musk joined Tesla executives on Wednesday, again taking part in the earnings call, providing an update on Cyberteruck and the factory to be built in Texas. Musk has said he plans to offer product updates at a time of supply chain woes, which Tesla has accused of changing part of its manufacturing schedule. Musk said the launch of new cars will limit Tesla's ability to produce electric vehicles at the same output.

Tesla test drivers believe that their mission is to make everyone's driving safer. Skeptics say they are a security risk. Despite the success of the company's best-selling models, the Model 3 and Model Y, the company has yet to produce the Cyberruck, as well as electric trucks and Roadster electric sports cars known as the Tesla Semi. Musk said: "This is a breakthrough year for Tesla and the entire electric vehicle industry.

Musk is known for his reckless — and sometimes unstable — behavior that manifests itself on earnings calls. In 2020, he ranted foul on a conference call denouncing home isolation as "fascism." Musk also said at the time that he would reduce his involvement in earnings calls and only make appearances during important announcements and disclosures. (Compiled by Tencent Technology/No Taboo)