Tesla (TSLA) has released its financial results and shareholder's letter for the first quarter of 2022 after the market closed this week.
Key Points
Tesla was the fastest-growing major carmaker last year
During the first three months of 2022, it sold 310,000 vehicles
The automaker managed to increase operating income to $3.6 billion during the quarter.
The company’s goal is to achieve a sales growth of 50 percent a year
Tesla said on Wednesday that it made a $3.3 billion profit in the first three months of the year, up from $438 million a year earlier and the biggest quarterly profit since the company’s creation. But Tesla also said it expected its factories to run below capacity for the rest of 2022.
The electric carmaker said its revenue in the first quarter totaled $18.8 billion, up from $10.4 billion a year earlier. The profit significantly exceeded investor expectations.
Tesla was the fastest-growing major carmaker last year, nearly doubling sales to almost one million vehicles while the industry as a whole slumped. New factories near Austin, Texas, and Berlin position the company to repeat that growth this year — if it can overcome some serious challenges.
These include a semiconductor shortage that has plagued automakers for more than a year. Tesla has also had to shut down its factory in Shanghai because of China’s draconian attempts to contain the coronavirus. China accounted for one-quarter of Tesla sales last year, and the plant in Shanghai also exports cars to other countries in Asia and Europe.
Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, said on a conference call with investors and analysts on Wednesday that his “best guess” was that Tesla would produce 1.5 million cars this year, meeting the company’s goal of achieving sales growth of 50 percent a year.
Tesla remains the largest manufacturer of battery-powered cars by far. During the first three months of 2022, it sold 310,000 vehicles, an increase of almost 70 percent from a year earlier. But traditional automakers like Volkswagen, Ford Motor, and Hyundai Motor have woken up to the threat and begun selling models that challenge Tesla’s dominance.
No doubt, in 2022, we’ll continue to see enormous EV sales numbers and by the looks of it, EV manufacturers will be rewarded with handsome financial returns.
Here’s Tesla’s Q1 2022 shareholder presentation in full and conference call:
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