Tesla skids lower as logistical slowdowns, FX factor into light revenue tally
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell in after-hours trading after falling short with Q3 revenue as logistical issues with deliveries and battery supply factored in. Notably, Tesla (TSLA) said the Q3 production rate out of Shanghai surpassed the quarterly record and Berlin production topped out at a weekly run rate of 2K Model Ys.
The Austin-based company generated $3.3B in GAAP net income during the quarter and $3.7B in non-GAAP net income.
The electric vehicle powerhouse reported it produced 365,923 vehicles overall in Q3 (+54% Y/Y) and delivered 343,830 vehicles (+42%).
Operating margin came in at 17.2% of sales to improve from last quarter's mark of 14.6%. Higher raw material costs and a negative FX impact were offset by higher pricing and leverage from deliveries growth. Automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits was 27.9% vs. 30.5% a year ago and was even with the mark from last quarter. The automotive gross margin rate was lower than the consensus estimate of 28.4%.
Tesla (TSLA) said it plans to grow its manufacturing capacity as quickly as possible and reiterated that over a multi-year horizon it expects to achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. The rate of growth will depend on equipment capacity, operational efficiency and the capacity and stability of the supply chain.
As expected, Tesla (TSLA) pointed to the inflationary impact on its cost structure, which contributed to higher vehicle pricing.
Solar deployments increased by 13% to 94MW in Q3 to mark one of the strongest quarters in recent years. Energy storage deployments were up 62% Y/Y.
Tesla (TSLA) expects to start making deliveries of the Tesla Semi in December.
Hardware-related profits are expected to be accompanied with an acceleration of software-related profits.
Tesla (TSLA) ended the quarter with a cash position of $21.1B, driven by free cash flow of $3.3B.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 2.77% in after-hours trading to $215.89 after gaining 0.84% during the regular session. The all-time high for Tesla is $414.50 on a split-adjusted basis.
The TSLA conference call is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and could feature more color on the production timeline, demand trends, and the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sector peers in after-hours trading: Lucid Motors (LCID) -0.44%, Fisker (FSR) -1.13%, Rivian Automotive (RIVN) -0.70%.
Read the latest breakdowns on Tesla from Seeking Alpha authors.