Tesla issued a discouraging full-year production outlook and reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations, both of which weighed on the stock. However, CEO Elon Musk did affirm that the company’s next-generation vehicle will be available in the latter half of 2025.
Tesla disclosed its fourth-quarter top-line revenue of $25.17 billion, which was in contrast to the estimated $25.87 billion. Nevertheless, revenue increased by around 3% year-over-year. Profitability-wise, Tesla disclosed adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.71, which was $0.71 less than the $0.73 estimate, and adjusted net income of $2.486 billion, which was $2.61 billion more than what the Street anticipated.
Tesla stated that its “vehicle volume growth rate may be significantly lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023, as our teams work on the launch of the next-generation vehicle at Gigafactory Texas” with regard to its full-year production. This would prevent the company from meeting Street estimates of 2.19 million vehicles for 2024, which would have represented a 21% increase from 2023.
However, progress on its next-generation platform was mentioned in both Tesla’s earnings release and subsequent earnings call. “Our primary objective is to expedite the introduction of the next-generation platform to the market, with intentions of commencing manufacturing at Gigafactory Texas.” This platform will significantly transform the process of vehicle manufacturing.
“Our next-generation low-cost vehicle is extremely advanced; we are extremely enthusiastic about this.” Musk stated on the earnings call, “This is a revolutionary manufacturing system, far more advanced than any other in the world,” clarifying that the company’s current timeline places production of this vehicle in the second half of 2025. This confirms an earlier allegation by Reuters that Tesla informed its suppliers that it plans to begin manufacturing a new mass-market electric vehicle codenamed “Redwood” by the middle of 2025.
