Tesla’s income drops 24% to $2.7b
- 21 Apr 2023
Tesla’s operating income decreased 24 per cent to $2.7 billion in Q1 2023 as the Elon Musk-run EV maker continues to cut prices of its vehicles.
However, the total revenue grew 24 per cent (year-on-year) in Q1 to $23.3 billion owing to price cuts.
Tesla shares fell 4 per cent in after-hours trading late on Wednesday.
In an earnings call with analysts, Musk said Tesla will start delivering its long-delayed Cybertruck in the third quarter of 2023.
“It takes time to get the manufacturing line going, and this is really a very radical product. It’s not made in the way that other cars are made,” said Musk.
“One thing I am confident of saying is that it’s an incredible product. It’s a Hall of Famer,” he added.
In the first quarter, Tesla’s automotive revenue reached about $19.9 billion, an 18 per cent increase YoY.
Tesla ended the March quarter with free cash flow of $441 million, down 80 per cent from the same period last year.
“While we continue to execute on innovations to reduce the cost of manufacturing and operations, over time, we expect our hardware-related profits to be accompanied with an acceleration of software-related profits,” the company said.
Tesla delivered 422,875 vehicles in the first quarter.
Tesla Inc raised the US prices for its Model S and X premium electric vehicles, according to its website on Thursday, although they are still 20 per cent lower than the start of the year after a slew of price cuts to drum up demand.
Tesla has been slashing prices globally since January, including as many six times in the United States until as recently as Tuesday, to drive volume, especially for its mass-market cars, the Model Y crossover and the Model 3 sedan.
