Tesla shares started 2022 with a jump: the weekend before the first day of trading, the company published the figures for production and deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2021, and because they were far above expectations, the Tesla shares fell about 13 percent on the first occasion to. The business figures for the quarter followed this Wednesday, and they were also better than expected. This time, however, the share began the following day with a big minus, which increased to 11.5 percent by the end of trading. In total, Tesla lost more than $100 billion in market value.
Robots more important than electric cars
Ultimately, investors were probably disappointed by the update on product planning at Tesla, which CEO Elon Musk announced in advance and then delivered in the telephone conference on the Q4 figures on Wednesday. It was both short and at least partially surprising: This year will Tesla will no longer launch any of its outstanding electric cars bring, he said. Cybertruck, semi and roadster should now come in 2023 at the earliest. And the Tesla announced in September 2020 for 2023 for 25,000 dollars is not currently being worked on, according to Musk.
Instead, the CEO talked a lot about the potential of Tesla’s autonomous driving software, called FSD for Full Self-Driving. It’s currently in beta testing in the US, but when the final version comes out, it could according to Musk bring the greatest increase in valuethat has ever existed: In one fell swoop, the benefits of Tesla electric cars will multiply if every owner can also have them earn money as robot taxis. Also, more reticent CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said at the conference autonomous driving software has significant potential to boost Tesla’s margins.
After $TSLA earnings, I read through the transcript again and then the blizzard of analyst notes. Brian Johnson of Barclay's sums up what we're seeing with the share price today: pic.twitter.com/n6SYQaV3nJ
— Dana “Legacy Blue Checkmark” Hull 👩🏻💻 (@danahull) January 27, 2022
Musk himself added confusion by saying that this year the focus of preparations for new products is on the humanoid robot that Tesla first mentioned last summer. At that time there was nothing more than computer images, data and a dance show with a person in a robot costume, and the Tesla boss had no real news on Wednesday either. However, he said that in the long term, the one known as Optimus could Tesla robots will become more important to the company than electric cars.
Concern about Tesla’s product pipeline
Overall, this was apparently perceived on the stock exchange as too much deviation from the core business – although this ran excellently last year and, according to Musk, should continue to grow by “comfortably over 50 percent” this year. Several analysts then increased their earnings estimates and price targets for 2022, but that was clearly not enough to save Thursday for Tesla. Among other things, an analyst from Barclay’s showed up in view of the provisional waiver the previously announced $25,000 electric car and the further postponement of the Cybertruck worries that Tesla lacks a product pipeline for further rapid growth.