Compilation / Zhang Gull
Editor/ Zhang Linyu
Design / Zhao Haoran
设计/ Bloomberg / Financial Times，作者：Dana Hull / Sean O'Kane / Gabrielle Coppola
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has been full of topics recently, has once again made headlines.
On April 20, Tesla released its first quarter 2022 financial report, with gratifying results. It also became the first U.S. automaker this year to report financial results for the first three months.
In the past three months, Tesla's total revenue of $18.756 billion is about $1 billion higher than Wall Street's forecast, an increase of 81% from $10.389 billion in the same period last year; of which the automotive business revenue reached $16.86 billion, an increase of 87% over the same period last year; and net profit was $3.318 billion, an increase of nearly seven times from $438 million in the same period last year.
100% net profit from carbon credit sales revenue was $679 million, more than double the previous quarter. Excluding capital expenditures, Tesla's cash flow for the first quarter was $2.2 billion. The company's cash and cash equivalents have totaled $18 billion. It also continues to reduce its debt burden, which leaves less than $100 million, which does not include financing for vehicles and energy products.
In addition, Tesla successfully improved the gross profit margin of the automotive business to a record 32.9%, up from 29.3% in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross profit in the major segments was $5.54 billion. The breakthrough in gross margin is undoubtedly a surprise, it represents the ability of the car company to control costs and drive sales.
Earnings per share also exceeded Wall Street expectations. Tesla reported earnings per share of $2.86, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26.
Image source: Twitter@iCannot_Enough
Reasonable price increase
As the world's most iconic electric vehicle brand, Tesla's revenue growth is mainly driven by strong demand for electric vehicles. Car bookings have increased significantly, as has the average selling price.
According to Tesla's sales report earlier this month, car deliveries in the first quarter were 310048. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries accounted for 95%, or 295324 units.
The continued shortage of chips and the epidemic have affected production, and the waiting list for Tesla's new cars is getting longer and longer, and some are even queued until next year.
Musk said that both supply and logistics costs are increasing compared to 2021, and the price of some parts has risen by 20-30% this year. He expects inflation to remain high in 2022.
That's why Tesla has repeatedly raised the price of its cars.
With a lag of up to a year between ordering Tesla vehicles and delivering vehicles, company pricing must reflect future costs, offsetting rising costs for battery raw materials and other components.
Tesla's cheapest car, the Model 3, is now priced at $46,990, up 34 percent from three years ago.
On the production line, the new factories in Berlin and Austin are pinned on high hopes that they will help the company overcome bottlenecks and make up for the lack of production caused by the shutdown of the Shanghai Gigafactory in the first half of this year.
Musk said on the earnings call that supply chain pressures and the shutdown of Chinese factories will indeed press the pause button for the company's rapid growth. However, he is optimistic about the overall prospects for 2022, and is confident that this year's annual production will increase by at least 50% compared with 2021. And maintain an annual growth rate of 50% in the next few years.
Tesla aims to produce more than 1.5 million cars this year, a figure that is higher than the vast majority of analysts expected. It delivered about 936,000 vehicles in 2021.
Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn added: "The company is working to get back to full production as soon as possible. ”
In fact, since the outbreak of the epidemic, Tesla has been going up against the current alone. While competitors stagnated due to global supply chain woes, Tesla set delivery and profit records for several consecutive quarters.
The newly opened Austin, Texas plant (Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman, AP) ▼
Musk "doubles"
Musk (Credit: Maja Hitij/Getty Images)▼
There were no other blockbusters on Tesla's earnings call, and Musk wasn't asked how he plans to raise $43 billion for Twitter — one of the hottest topics of the moment.
Analysts and investors have asked if Musk's work is too heavy to take care of cars. Because in addition to Tesla's management and several new factories that have opened in recent weeks, he also serves as CEO of rocket maker SpaceX and several smaller companies.
According to Forbes, Musk was already the richest man in the world as early as the end of 2021. If he does succeed in acquiring Twitter, Musk will have a historic, unprecedented directory of tech companies. Wealth expansion can be imagined.
In fact, with the release of this earnings report, Musk has added a big gift to his wealth - the results of the last three quarters have been enough to trigger the 9th and 11th batch of 12 batches of options in his 2018 compensation plan.
Simply put, Musk unlocked the "achieve performance goals" hat trick and will be paid a total of $23 billion.
Tesla's Keyword of the Year
Cybertruck
Dozens of customers have already paid a refundable deposit for cyberruck, and Cybertruck will be available in 2023.
In this batch of electric pickup competition, Ford's F-150 Lightning will soon be listed on April 26, and Rivian's R1T is also scheduled to be listed in October 2022. It's clear that Cybertruck arrives later than its main competitors and may not be able to preempt it. But with such brand appeal, people's expectations and curiosity about it are still only increasing.
FSD (Fully Automated Driving System)
Musk revealed in a TED interview in mid-April that Tesla now has more than 100,000 drivers participating in the FSD's test program, and customers will pay $12,000.
Over the past few months, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has stepped up regulation of the autonomous driving space. In December 2021 and February 2022, Tesla has recalled FSD twice, and NHTSA is also conducting a second review of Autopilot.
ROBOTAXI
On the earnings call, Musk again introduced the robotaxi: "It will be highly optimized for autonomous driving, without steering wheels or pedals. There are some other exciting innovations. The goal is to produce the lowest cost per mile for users. Musk sees it as a major driver of Tesla's future growth.
Tesla aims to achieve mass production of the robotaxi by 2024.
lithium
Musk tweeted in early April that the price of lithium, the main ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, had reached crazy levels, and hinted that Tesla might be more involved in the raw material supply chain, but there was no clear whether it would directly expand to the mining of metals such as lithium.
"We're looking at all the raw materials," he said. In the coming months, there may be some exciting news. ”
Musk has never operated a mine, but he is building a lithium processing plant in Texas and may need to build a nickel refinery. Industry analysts say "getting into mining" isn't as easy as it sounds, and buying lithium mining companies may be one of the possible approaches.
Musk had earlier mentioned a new approach to turning nickel into the material needed for battery cathodes, but did not provide other details.
Charging cable
Tesla recently announced that Tesla cars ordered after April 17 will not be added to the charging cable, which has caused a strong protest from Musk's fanatical supporters. The part, worth $400, is also sold out on Tesla's website.
The cable enables the owner to charge the vehicle using a simple wall outlet, and since the charging speed is slow, it is more like a stopgap measure that can be used to provide emergency services in case of emergency.
Tesla responded: "According to statistics, the utilization rate of charging cables is extremely low. "But the owners are not satisfied. Subsequently it reduced the price to $200 and offered subscriptions.
Industry analysts called the move a "hidden price increase."
This article was originally produced by Automotive Business Review
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