It’s one week into Elon Musk’s new role as chief cost-cutter for the Trump administration, but today, his side hustle as CEO of Tesla takes center stage with the release of the company’s latest earnings report.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, Tesla said it earned $2.3 billion in net income on $25.7 billion in revenue. That represents a 1.9 percent increase year over year compared to $25.2 billion in revenue in Q4 2023 and a 70 percent decrease in net income. (The company’s net income in Q4 2023 includes a one-time non-cash tax benefit of $5.9 billion.)
Analyst consensus predicted $27.26 billion in revenue, according to an average of estimates compiled by LSEG. For the full year, Tesla said it earned $7.1 billion in net income on $97.7 billion in revenue, a 6 percent decrease compared to 2023.
Analyst consensus predicted $27.26 billion in revenue
Tesla said it sold $692 million in regulatory credits to other automakers in Q4, representing about a quarter of its profits. For the full year, it sold nearly $2.8 billion in credits, but Trump has said he wants to kill California’s emissions program that allows Tesla to rake in these credit sales.
Tesla said it was making progress on bringing down the cost of goods sold (COGS) per vehicle to under $35,000, its lowest level yet. The company attributes this to “raw material cost improvement.” And it reiterated its intention to release a more affordable EV later this year. Meanwhile, deliveries of the refreshed Model Y, which starts at $61,630, are expected in the first quarter of this year.
“Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025,” the company said. “These vehicles will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.”
Tesla shared some updates about its efforts to develop fully autonomous vehicles. Tesla said its drivers have now cumulatively driven over 3 billion miles on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as of January. It also claims to have increased AI training compute by over 400% in 2024. And it says it remains on track to “unlock an unsupervised FSD option for our customers and the Robotaxi business, which we expect to begin launching later this year in parts of the US.” FSD is also coming to Europe and China, the company said.
Tesla also said it was making progress on growing its manufacturing footprint. It shared new pictures of its newly completed Shanghai Megapack factory, as well as the upcoming Semi truck factory in Nevada, where production is slated to start later in 2025.
Another interesting photo included in the earnings report was of the company’s 50,000 GPU training cluster in Giga Texas called “Cortex.” According to the company:
Cortex helped enable V13 of FSD (Supervised)1, which boasts major improvements in safety and comfort thanks to 4.2x increase in data, higher resolution video inputs, 2x reduction in photon-to-control latency and redesigned controller, among other enhancements. FSD (Supervised) can now start from park and perform unpark, reverse and park capabilities.
In terms of the Cybertruck, Tesla said it anticipates the polarizing EV will soon become eligible for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, “helping to improve affordability and access for even more customers.” Of course, Trump has signaled his intention to eliminate the tax credit at some point in the future.
Tesla included an interesting chart in its shareholder letter outlining the new technologies in the Cybertruck that will also appear in the company’s future vehicles. Unsurprisingly the company does not appear to be interested in using the truck’s stainless steel exoskeleton, which is incredibly difficult to manufacture, in any subsequent models.
The earnings report comes on the heels of a disappointing production and delivery report, in which the company revealed that its sales had fallen year over year for the first time in over a decade. Despite the recent arrival of a refreshed Model Y in North America, Tesla’s lineup is increasingly looking a little stale, especially in the company’s most important market of China, where domestic automakers continue to churn out new, cheap technologically impressive EVs.
But it also comes as Musk continues to consolidate power within the US government, installing former employees to key positions and overseeing a potentially massive purge of federal workers. Musk is reportedly sleeping at the Department of Government Efficiency headquarters in Washington, DC — a retread of his habits of sleeping on the floor of Tesla’s factory during the Model 3 production ramp.
Investors have asked repeatedly about Tesla’s plan to release a more affordable model. Last year, the company abandoned its plan to build a more affordable “Model 2” vehicle that was rumored to cost around $25,000. But after backlash from investors, Musk recommitted to it — although it’s still unclear whether it will be an entirely new vehicle or simply a more affordable Model 3. Musk said the two-seat Cybercab would be available to buy for $30,000 starting in 2026, though production challenges loom.
Musk and other Tesla executives will be on hand to answer questions during a webcast at 5:30PM ET.
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