There was nothing exciting about electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla's latest financial results.
company report The company announced its 2024 first quarter financial results on Tuesday (April 23), revealing a 55% decline in profit compared to the same period last year.
“We experienced a number of challenges in the first quarter, from the Red Sea conflict and the arson incident at Gigafactory Berlin to the phasing-in of the latest Model 3 in Fremont. Cybertruck and Schedule COGS excluding external downtime [cost of goods sold] “Per-unit sales decreased sequentially, primarily due to lower raw material costs,” company executives told investors during an earnings call Tuesday.
“Global EV sales remain under pressure as many automakers prioritize hybrids over EVs. We are positive about our regulatory credit business, but expect the industry to continue to drive EV adoption.” This is in line with our mission,” the leaders added.
Tesla's stock price has nearly halved since the start of the year, dropping 43% by the time of the company's earnings release, but the stock price has risen. More than 10 After several hours.
Investors may be receptive to the news that Tesla has announced updates to its future car lineup and plans to move toward lower-cost, mass-produced models, such as the Model 2, which starts at $299 per month (in the U.S.) Observers believe that there is.
Company's financial documents It also states that it is “exclusively designed” for it. robotaxi Products continue to pursue innovative “boxless” manufacturing strategies. ”
read more: Dropping sales and stagnant production add miles to bumpy EV journey
More than just an EV car
“We are AI [artificial intelligence], a robotics company — If you value us differently, it is impossible to give the correct answer to the question being asked. “If you don't believe Tesla is the solution to autonomy, you shouldn't invest in the company,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the investor Q&A portion of Tuesday's conference call.
And that was the main theme of the company's earnings call — that it should be seen as an independent company, not an automaker.
“We are excited about the autonomy roadmap, and it is only a matter of time before we surpass human reliability. Really “In the future, non-self-driving gasoline cars will be like riding horses,” Musk told investors.
Of course, Tesla's comments about its direction come at a critical juncture in the electric vehicle market, with traditional and new players vying for control. The company's financial performance during this period has been closely watched by investors and industry analysts, especially considering the stock price volatility leading up to the earnings release.
read more: Musk promises Tesla robotaxis amid tough EV market
Tesla stock has emerged from its longest slump in years as investors reconsider their investment policies in light of Musk's notoriously volatile comments about the company's autonomy-first direction. It's coming. The confirmation that at a lower cost With Tesla's growth slowing and profit margins shrinking, the EV line going into production is expected to calm investors' nerves. and sale.
“We have recently taken steps to reduce costs to improve operational efficiency. We also continue to work to reduce costs across the company, including lower costs per vehicle. “We are focused on profitable growth, including leveraging our existing factories and production lines to introduce new, more affordable products,” the company said in a statement, and during the conference call said it has a $1 billion-plus He said staff reductions are expected. Price based.
“While many companies are disinvesting, we are investing in future growth, including AI infrastructure, production capacity, supercharging and service networks. and New Product Infrastructure – $2.8 billion in capital expenditures in the first quarter,” Tesla said in a filing.
The company increased its AI training compute capacity by more than 130% in the first quarter, and Elon also specifically and praised Tesla's humanoid robot project, Optimus, telling investors: . Optimus is worth more than the rest of Tesla's offerings combined.
“Sentient humanoid robots that can navigate reality and perform ad hoc tasks. That's what's going to happen, and Tesla is one of the leading robot manufacturers in achieving volume reduction through efficient reasoning in the robot itself. “We are in the best position of all,” Musk added.
And Optimus serves as another piece of evidence in the Tesla ecosystem story. It seems like they are becoming disconnected from the EV story.