Despite reporting earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates last quarter, Tesla is standing firm on its full-year production forecast and assuring investors that it will start delivering its highly anticipated Cybertruck by November 30.
The electric vehicle giant, led by CEO Elon Musk, announced that its profit, excluding certain items, amounted to 66 cents per share, falling below the 74 cents per share projected by Wall Street. Additionally, Tesla’s revenue for the quarter reached $23.4 billion, slightly below the anticipated $24.06 billion.
However, Tesla’s stock gained ground in extended trading as the company confirmed the imminent launch of the Cybertruck, which has been delayed by approximately two years. Tesla also reiterated its commitment to producing and delivering around 1.8 million vehicles this year, which would mark a new record.
Despite a brief initial decline in after-hours trading, Tesla’s stock rebounded by 2.2 percent after the Cybertruck announcement.
The excitement surrounding the Cybertruck overshadowed Tesla’s dwindling profit margins. Tesla’s adjusted profit margin for the quarter was 16.1 percent, with the automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits at 16.3 percent.
Throughout the year, Tesla has repeatedly lowered the prices of its vehicles, and Elon Musk has indicated a willingness to sacrifice the company’s industry-leading profit margins to maintain sales volume. Notably, the price reductions for Tesla’s most expensive model, the Model X, have exceeded 30 percent, making the vehicles more accessible to consumers with rising inflation and interest rates.
Tesla, headquartered in Austin, Texas, previously disclosed that it delivered 435,059 vehicles globally in the quarter, marking its first quarterly decline in a year due to planned factory downtime affecting production. The company also introduced an updated Model 3 sedan in China and Europe and is preparing to launch the Cybertruck.
In a shareholder letter, the company explained, “While production cost at our new factories remained higher than our established factories, we have implemented necessary upgrades in Q3 to enable further unit cost reductions.”
