Tesla Says Supply Chain Issues Were ‘Main Limiting Factor’ in Latest Quarterly Report

Electric vehicle maker Tesla reported fourth quarter financial results this week, revealing a beat on earnings and revenue.

Shares fell 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the automaker had also warned that supply chain issues could continue this year.

The company had said supply chain issues were a “main limiting factor” and CEO Elon Musk gave a “product road map” update saying the company would not release any new model vehicles in 2022.

Tesla is focusing on developing autonomous vehicle tech, and scaling up production at its new factories in Austin, Texas and outside of Berlin.

For the fourth quarter Tesla reported earnings per share of $2.52, adjusted. Analysts according to Refintiiv had been waiting for $2.36 per share, adjusted. Revenue at $17.72 billion was ahead of the $16.57 billion that was expected according to analysts, per Refinitiv.

Revenue saw a jump of 65% YOY in the quarter. Automotive revenue had totaled $15.97 billion, which was an increase of 71% according to the company’s statement.

Energy generation and storage revenue was $688 million, which was a decrease of 8% and below the StreetAccount consensus of $815.1 million. It was the lowest revenue for that division since the first quarter of 2021.

Net income, at $2.32 billion, was up some 760%, and Tesla said it had a 27.4% gross margin, compared with 26.6% in the previous quarter.

“Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters as supply chain became the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through 2022,” Tesla said in a shareholder deck.

Musk said during the earnings call that he expects Tesla to remain “chip-limited” in 2022, and that the company would introduce no new vehicle models this year as a result.

“We will not be introducing new vehicle models this year. We will still be parts constrained,” he said.
Musk also revealed that Tesla is not currently working on a $25,000 compact electric vehicle, contrary to the ambitions he announced at a Tesla Battery Day presentation in 2020.

In its shareholder deck, Tesla revealed that it has expanded its experimental driver assistance systems testing program, dubbed FSD Beta, to around 60,000 users in the U.S.

“Full Self-Driving (FSD) software remains one of our primary areas of focus,” the company wrote. “Over time, our software-related profit should accelerate our overall profitability.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.