revealed Tesla reported third-quarter earnings after the US market closed yesterday. Executives addressed a wide range of questions during the earnings call, including macroeconomic concerns and the pending acquisition of CEO Elon Musk on Twitter.
Although Tesla’s profit exceeded expectations, the company’s shares fell about 5% in the hours following the results.
Earnings per share were $1.05, compared to revised earnings per share of $0.99, according to the average forecast of analysts polled by Refinitiv. Revenue was $21.45 billion, compared to $21.96 billion expected by Refinitiv analysts.
Tesla’s net income for the third quarter of this year was $3.33 billion, with auto gross margins flat at 27.9%, exactly where they were in the second quarter of 2022. During the same period last year, Tesla posted a profit of $1.62 billion. , according to what was reported by “CNBC”, and reviewed by “Al-Arabiya.net”.
During an earnings call on Wednesday to discuss the results, Musk answered questions from shareholders about demand for electric vehicles and potential stock buybacks.
“I can’t stress enough that we have excellent demand for the fourth quarter, and we expect every car we make to be sold in the future as much as we can see,” Musk said.
He added, “The factories are working as quickly as possible and every car we make is being delivered to customers,” stressing maintaining strong operating margins.
Musk said that Tesla is likely to buy back significant shares next year, with a potential value of between $5 billion and $10 billion, pending board approval.
Musk said during the meeting: “I believe that (Tesla) can surpass Apple in terms of market value, and I see that it will surpass (Apple) and (Aramco) combined,” adding: “This does not mean that it will happen or will be easy.”
Tesla’s auto revenue came to $18.69 billion, an increase of 55 percent from last year. The company’s core auto business revenue cost increased to $13.48 billion in the third quarter, up from $10.52 billion in the second quarter, in line with the increase in vehicle sales.
Tesla’s auto regulatory approvals accounted for 1.5 percent of auto revenue, valued at $286 million, for the third quarter.
Tesla reiterated previous guidance in its shareholder group on Wednesday, saying, “Over a multi-year horizon, we expect to achieve 50% annual growth in vehicle deliveries.”
The company also expected to start delivering its heavy electric truck “Simi” in December, pointing out that it produces the truck “Simi” at its plant in Nevada, where it produces batteries for its cars.
Tesla has not offered a firm timetable for the start of production of its Cybertruck, saying only that it will be produced in Texas after the Model Y ramps up there.
The company had stated earlier that its deliveries for the quarter ending on September 30 amounted to 343,000, while vehicle production amounted to 365 thousand.