On January 27, Beijing time, the US electric car manufacturer Tesla released its 2021 Q4 and annual financial reports. Despite uncertainties such as missing cores, Tesla's full-year car deliveries increased by 87% year-on-year, with total revenue exceeding $50 billion and net profit soaring more than 6 times.
Financial report at a glance: a day to make a hundred million yuan
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla's total revenue was $17.719 billion, an increase of 28.8% sequentially and 65% year-on-year; total gross profit was $4.847 billion based on GAAP standards, gross margin was 27.4%; operating margin was 14.7%; and net profit was $2.321 billion, an increase of 43.4% sequentially and a sharp increase of 760% year-on-year.
Among them, the automotive business revenue was US$15.967 billion (including carbon emission credit revenue of US$314 million), an increase of 32.4% month-on-month, an increase of 71% year-on-year; the gross profit of the automotive business was US$4.882 billion, an increase of 32.9% month-on-month, an increase of 118% year-on-year, and the gross profit margin of the bicycle was 30.6%.
It is worth noting that Tesla's single-vehicle gross margin in the fourth quarter increased slightly on the basis of 30.5% in the third quarter, showing that its profitability is quite considerable. Further, no traditional fuel vehicle manufacturer or other new car manufacturers can reach this height.
For the whole year of 2021, Tesla's total revenue was $53.823 billion, an increase of 71% compared with 2020; according to GAAP standards, the total gross profit was $13.839 billion, an increase of 98% year-on-year, and the gross profit margin was 29.3%; the operating margin was 12.1%; and the net profit was 5.519 billion US dollars, an increase of 665% over 2020.
Automotive revenue was $47,232 million (including CARBON Credits revenue of US$1,465 million), up 73% year-over-year; gross profit from automotive was US$13,839 million, up 98% year-over-year; and gross margin was 29.3%.
For the electric vehicle market, which has gradually increased penetration and rising volume, Tesla's profitability throughout the year is amazing. Net profit was US$5.519 billion, or about RMB35.059 billion, equivalent to a net profit of nearly RMB100 million a day.
Tesla said in its earnings report that the company's full-year 2021 delivery volume increased by 87%, achieving the highest quarterly operating margin (14.7%) among all mass production OEMs, indicating that electric vehicles can be more profitable than traditional cars.
Model 3/Y is the main force in sales, and the low-end product strategy has achieved remarkable results
In addition to the disclosed financial information, Tesla's production and delivery data has also attracted much attention.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla produced 305,840 units, an increase of 70% year-on-year, of which the Model S/X produced 13,109 units and the Model 3/Y produced 292,731 units.
In terms of deliveries, Model S/X deliveries were 11,766 units and Model 3/Y 296,884 units in the quarter, with a total delivery volume of 308,650 units, an increase of 71% year-on-year.
In addition, tesla's global market average inventory cycle is 4 days, narrowing from the 6-day improvement in the third quarter, compared with 11 days in the same period last year. In other words, Tesla was almost in a state of "off-line delivery" in the current quarter, which also reflected the strong demand for Tesla models in the market.
For the full year of 2021, Tesla's total production was 930,422 units, an increase of 83% over 2020. Model S/X produced 24,390 units, down 55% year-on-year, and Model 3/Y produced 906,032 units, up 99% year-on-year.
Total deliveries in 2021 were 936,222 units, up 87% year-over-year. Among them, the Model S/X delivered a total of 24,980 units, down 56% year-on-year; model 3/Y deliveries of 911,242 units, an increase of 106% year-on-year.
From the data, it is not difficult to find that model S/X has shown a slippery slope in both production and delivery. On the contrary, the Model 3/Y of about 300,000 yuan has become the main force of Tesla's market.
At this stage, the new energy vehicle market is not yet mature, compared with the Model S/X model that started at 700,000 yuan, the model 3/Y has a wider target population and higher consumer acceptance. "Xinhua News Agency" published an article on the domestic Model 3/Y in early 2021, saying, "The domestic Tesla Model Y enters the market at a low price, is it a catfish or a shark?" "For now, Tesla's strategy of promoting low-end models has achieved remarkable results.
More than half of the production capacity depends on the Shanghai plant, and the future will be fully expanded
Even so, Tesla still pointed out in its earnings report that the challenges posed by global supply chain, logistics and other manufacturing factories in the fourth quarter of 2021 limited the factory's full capacity. This means that without these factors, Tesla's production and sales may be higher.
In addition, Tesla also mentioned the operation of four gigafactories around the world. At present, Tesla's production mainly relies on two gigafactories in California and Shanghai, China.
Including: The Fremont vehicle assembly plant in California mainly produces Model S, Model X and Model 3 and Model 3, with a total production capacity of 60,000 units; the Shanghai Gigafactory has a monthly production capacity of more than 45,000 units, more than half of Tesla's annual delivery.
Tesla pointed out that local production is crucial to reducing the cost of bicycles and improving the stability of the global supply chain, so the Shanghai Gigafactory will continue to serve as Tesla's main export center.
The Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, will begin production of the Model Y at the end of 2021, and after the final certification, the vehicles will begin to be delivered to users. According to Tesla's plan, the Austin factory will also be responsible for producing the long-delayed Cyberteruck next year. In addition, Tesla's gigafactory in Berlin is still waiting for production permits.
After the earnings report, Tesla CEO Musk further pointed out on the conference call that the first batch of 4680 battery cars will be delivered this quarter, and will be ready to launch Cyberruck, electric truck Semi and ROADSTER sports cars next year. Tesla is facing the problem of chip capacity limitation this year, and the situation will be alleviated next year.
Looking ahead, Tesla will accelerate production, not only to expand production at its Fremont and Shanghai gigafactories, but also at its Austin and Berlin plants, as well as build new plants.
As for the location, Musk gave a reply: see you at the end of the year.
Musk predicts full self-driving is coming?
Another point of interest in the earnings report naturally belongs to Tesla's autopilot technology process.
Software services are seen as an important source of long-term profitability for Tesla. In the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla's FSD autopilot system released seven updates, and there are currently nearly 60,000 beta FSD vehicles in the United States.
Musk said on the earnings call that Tesla's "full self-driving" is expected to be launched by the end of this year. At that time, the corresponding transportation costs will be reduced by 4-5 times.
With the continuous iteration and upgrading of technology, software-related revenue will undoubtedly enhance Tesla's overall profitability. Autonomous driving is seen as the future of the car, and FSD will become the cornerstone of Tesla's further improvement of car safety.
However, it should be noted that earlier, Eric C. Williams, Tesla's legal counsel, made it clear that "Autopilot and FSD are not yet autonomous driving systems, and neither of them has the function of autonomous driving, either individually or as a whole." ”
For a long time, whether Tesla can achieve full self-driving has also been questioned by the outside. Whether Musk's "prophecy" is a big talk of happiness is still debatable.