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- Tesla is a closely watched company.
- Tesla Q3 2023 earnings were reported October 18 after markets closed.
- The automaker reported adjusted EPS of $0.66, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74.
Information about Tesla's financials is released on a quarterly basis, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk reporting progress to shareholders during earnings calls — and often facing tough questions from investors while doing so.
Here's a quick guide to recent earnings from Tesla.
Tesla Q3 earnings 2023
Tesla reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Oct. 18, after the closing bell.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed investors and analysts on an earnings call shortly after.
The automaker fell short of revenue forecasts and reaffirmed its vehicle-production target of 1.8 million for 2023.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja warns that the ongoing wars "impacts sentiment."
Musk says "Buying a new car isn't front of mind" for consumers with wars going on. The topic closed the Q3 call. The billionaire also says people who want everyone to work from home give off "Marie Antoinette vibes."
Asked if he could share the timing of Tesla's next vehicle, Musk says "not at this time."
The Tesla CEO says the EV pickup truck will require a "staggering" amount of work to ramp up because "it's the nature of the newness." Though, he says the company is doing its best to simplify the vehicle.
"Pricing is a key factor that could help Tesla make up for a possible demand drop and boost revenue. As such, I would not be surprised if Tesla seeks further price hikes in the weeks ahead as trouble starts to brew at some of its competitors, including Lucid Motors and Rivian," Jesse Cohen, a senior analyst at Investing.com said in a note following the earnings release.
3rd quarter results
- Adjusted EPS: $0.66, vs $0.74 estimate (Bloomberg consensus)
- Revenue: $23.35 billion, vs $24.06 billion estimate
- Free cash flow: $848 million, vs $2.59 billion estimate
- Gross margin: 17.9%, vs 18% estimate
- Capital expenditure: $2.46 billion, +36% y/y, vs $2.03 billion estimate
Full-year 2023
- Reaffirmed vehicle production of 1.8 million vehicles
- Cybertruck deliveries are on track to begin later this year
Tesla Q2 earnings 2023
Tesla released information on net income and cash flow, as well as other financials and had already released Q2 2023 production and delivery information.
It produced 479,700 cars and delivered 466,140, up from the first quarter of 2023 for both categories. Deliveries are the closest figure to sales that Tesla reports.
Though most of Tesla revenue comes from EV sales, revenues also come from paid use of Superchargers, the sale of regulatory credits to other automotive manufacturers, and automotive leasing.
Tesla analyst Philippe Houchois of Jeffries raised his price target for Tesla from $185 to $265 ahead of the upcoming earnings call.
Musk's big bet that Tesla price cuts could boost sales and profits amid increasing competition and poor economic sentiment appears to be yielding mixed results. The company beat analyst expectations for net income in the April-June quarter, although its shares barely budged.
The Austin, Texas, maker of electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries reported net income of $2.7 billion in the quarter, a 20% increase from a year ago. Earnings per share also rose 20% to 78 cents when measured via generally accepted accounting principles.
Analysts, however, tend to focus on Tesla's own measurement of profit, which excludes stock-based compensation expense. By that measure, Tesla's net income zoomed to $3.15 billion, or 91 cents a share, sharply exceeding analyst estimates of 80 cents per share according to FactSet. Analysts had expected profits to fall because of the price cuts.
Other analysts contend Tesla's true valuation lies in its autonomous driving capabilities -- Tesla FSD and Autopilot.
Stock analysts were also closely watching Tesla's margins.
What were Tesla earnings Q1 2023?
Tesla's previous earnings call happened in April 2023.
While reporting on Q1 2023 results, Elon Musk was grilled on Tesla's price cuts during the call and received more than a half dozen questions on the topic. Ahead of the call, Tesla had reduced the price of the Model Y All-Wheel Drive by $3,000, among other cuts.
Analysts said Tesla margin concerns were at top of mind for investors after the release of Q1 earnings.
Tesla earnings history
In January, Musk used the Tesla earnings call to brag about his Twitter popularity.
In response to an investor question about what Tesla is doing to mitigate brand damage resulting from the running Musk political commentary on Twitter, Musk replied:
"Let me check my Twitter account. OK, so I've got 127 million followers, and it continues to grow very rapidly. That suggests that I'm reasonably popular. Now, I might not be popular with some people, but for the vast majority of people, my follower count speaks for itself."
Anticipation was high for the January call, where Q4 2022 earnings were reported.
"After experiencing unprecedented hyper growth over the past few years in the EV market which was essentially created by Musk, now Tesla faces a darker macro in 2023 with fierce competition coming from all angles," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note in the days leading up to the Q4 2022 earnings report.
Tesla ended up beating Wall Street's expectations, and Tesla's stock price climbed 11% the day after earnings.
Tesla (TSLA) does not pay a dividend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.