Electric vehicle maker Tesla delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first quarter, up from 184,800 vehicles a year earlier. The company produced 305,407 cars in the quarter versus 180,338 in the same period last year.
Investors are paying close attention to these key numbers, which are released in familiar fashion well before the quarterly report. The first quarter report will be submitted on April 20.
The number of deliveries was more or less in line with analysts’ prior estimates. According to Factset, Tesla was expected to deliver 317,000 vehicles in the first quarter, while according to Bloomberg, just over 309,000 vehicles were expected, based on average analyst estimates.
The number of deliveries is also a new record, after the company delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Supply problems and high prices
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk himself wrote on Twitter that this was an “exceptionally difficult” quarter, due to value chain issues and China’s no-dispatch strategy. The Corona eruptions led to new shutdowns in important Chinese port cities, and contributed to the deterioration of already fragile supply chains.
Among other things, Tesla was forced to temporarily halt production at its Shanghai plant at the beginning of March as a result of the new measures. This was a nuisance to Tesla, which had previously tried to overcome supply problems by increasing production at this particular plant.
The price of a large number of important raw materials has risen sharply in prices during the epidemic – as well as since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prices of important electric vehicle components such as aluminum, palladium, nickel and lithium have risen. Musk warned in mid-March of rising costs across the board, increasing car prices in both the United States and China by five to ten percent.
The company recently opened its “mega-factory” in Brandenburg, outside of Berlin. In the first phase, the plan is for the plant to be able to produce up to 500,000 electric cars per year and employ about 12,000 people. Tesla will soon open a similar factory in Austin, Texas, where the company’s new headquarters will also be.
1137 billion dollars
Tesla’s share, like most other growth stocks, has had a rough start to the year, dropping nearly 40 percent from early in the year to mid-March. In the past two weeks, the share has rebounded strongly, with an increase of more than 40 percent from March 15.
Tesla’s market capitalization is currently around $1,137 billion, which is equal to 9,900 billion kroner at current exchange rates. Only tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, which owns Google and Saudi Aramco, have a higher market value.
Many market experts for several years have believed that pricing goes beyond all grounds, without this preventing the company’s value from emerging. Tesla is worth more than the next 15 automakers on the list in the world combined, according to Companiesmarketcap.
Tesla’s stock has risen more than 1,000 percent in the past two years, making Elon Musk the world’s richest person. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune is estimated at $273 billion. (Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link that leads directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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