Tesla talks margin hopes, full autonomy and energy storage on conference call
Justin Sullivan

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk opened the call by saying that the company's operating margin is at the highest level in the industry despite some macro challenges. Musk also reiterated that vehicle orders are still in excess of production. He also noted the energy storage business had its best quarter ever and is likely to generate more gigawatt energy storage than the automotive business.
CFO Zach Kirkhorn noted automotive gross margin was impacted by one-time warranty costs and margin drags from new factories in Austin and Berlin. In terms of margins for the rest of the year, Kirkhorn did not issue specific guidance, but said cost reductions in Austin and Berlin as they scale up should factor in. Commodity price improvement in Q2 is anticipated. He also said that in general Tesla is looking for mid-20s margins for all parts of the business.
On the rosy side, Elon Musk said Tesla (TSLA) expects to add new markets in the near future and sees full autonomous driving as early as this year. However, Musk allowed that geopolitical or macroeconomic surprises could alter the company's time goals.
Other items of interest from the conference call included the reveal that a Cybertruck event is planned for Q3 and there is more forward motion with full-serving driving beta testing, the neural network, and Dojo supercomputer program. The work on the next-gen vehicle is also still progressing.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell 4.33% in after-hours trading to $172.76 after shedding 2.02% during the regular session. The 52-week high for Tesla is $364.08.
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