The logo of Tesla model 3 is seen at the Auto show on Oct. 3, 2018, in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
Tesla delivered a record number of cars in 2022 — just not as many as expected. The electric vehicle maker sold 1.31 million cars last year, which is up 40 percent from 2021 but below the company's own goal of 50 percent sales growth per year.
Here's Tesla's spin on coming up short again after a Q3 miss: "Thank you to all of our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve a great 2022 in light of significant COVID and supply chain related challenges throughout the year."
The stock plunged 12 percent following the announcement, dragging down markets on the first trading day of 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial dropped more than 200 points in morning trading, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell around 1 and 1.4 percent respectively early in the day.
The miss comes as Tesla struggles to excite investors after a year without any new product announcements and rampant supply chain issues, as well as CEO Elon Musk's controversial purchase of Twitter, which some see as a distraction for the serial entrepreneur. In addition, the company briefly suspended production at its Shanghai plant last week and also announced plans to reduce its output in January.
The bigger picture is that Tesla deliveries fell short despite lowering its prices and offering discounts, suggesting that supply might now be outpacing demand.
"Demand overall is starting to crack a bit for Tesla and the company will need to adjust and cut prices more especially in China which remains the key to the growth story," wrote Dan Ives, analyst for Wedbush Securities, in a research note.
He added that the "Cinderella ride" is over for Tesla and Musk.
Supporting this narrative, the price of used Teslas was down 24 percent in December from a peak of $71,325 in June, 2022, according to data from car market CoPilot.
Musk in October previously told investors that Tesla will have an "epic" fourth quarter in 2022. The delivery data suggests this might not be the case, though Tesla's full earnings report isn't due out until later this month.
"With Tesla not reporting 4Q earnings/guidance until late January the debate will now rage on the Street around the 2023 Street outlook with deliveries likely in the 35%-40% range for 2023 as Musk & Co. need to lay out a more conservative number to hit in this jittery backdrop and rip the band-aid off guidance," wrote Ives.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
