The Daily Populous Thursday January 30th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by superfluousapostroph

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk takes his seat at the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th U.S. President in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Tesla reported earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter that missed analysts' estimates. The stock initially fell in after-hours trading before rebounding. Here is how the company did compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG: Earnings per share: 73 cents adjusted vs. 76 cents expected

73 cents adjusted vs. 76 cents expected Revenue: $25.71 billion vs. $27.26 billion expected Tesla's revenue increased just 2% from $25.17 billion a year earlier. Automotive revenue fell 8% to $19.8 billion from $21.56 billion in the same quarter last year, and of that, $692 million came from regulatory credits. Operating income declined 23% year over year to $1.6 billion. The company cited reduced average selling prices across its Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X lines as a major reason for the decline. Net income dropped 71% from a year earlier to $2.32 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $7.93 billion, or $2.27 a share. Last year's net income figure was bolstered by a $5.9 billion one-time noncash tax benefit.

Tesla's earnings report follows a steep rally in the company's stock price tied to the election of President Donald Trump. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was the biggest backer of Trump's campaign efforts and is now leading the president's new government efficiency advisory board. The company's stock price has rallied sharply since Trump's victory in November as investors bet that Musk's influence would lead to both favorable policies and less oversight of his companies. Operating margin for the quarter came in at 6.2%, narrowing from 8.2% during the same period a year earlier and 10.8% in the previous quarter. In early January, Tesla reported deliveries for the fourth quarter of 495,570. For the full year, deliveries came in at about 1.8 million, marking the company's first annual decline. Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales reported by Tesla, but are not precisely defined in the company's shareholder communications.

To end 2024, Tesla offered a range of discounts on inventory vehicles and special discounts for buyers in North America who were referred by another Tesla customer. In China, Tesla cut prices on its popular Model Y SUVs before debuting a refreshed version, the Model Y Juniper. In its shareholder deck on Wednesday, Tesla noted that "affordability remains top of mind for customers." The company said it intends to "review every aspect" of its cost of goods sold per vehicle to help make its EVs affordable.

Musk has been telling investors in recent quarters to focus less on the core business as it exists today and more on a future of autonomy and robotics. In October, Tesla drummed up excitement among fans by showing off an early prototype version of a Cybercab at its "We, Robot" event. However, Tesla still does not produce robotaxis. Instead, the company sells a premium version of its partially automated driving system called FSD, short for Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Meanwhile, Google's Waymo has a growing commercial robotaxi offering in some U.S. markets, and China's WeRide and Pony.ai are testing and commercially operating driverless ride-hailing services. While Tesla did not give specific guidance for this year, the company said, "we expect the vehicle business to return to growth in 2025." It also reiterated plans to "unlock an unsupervised FSD option" eventually and said it expects to "begin launching" its driverless ride-hailing business "later this year in parts of the U.S." Musk said in the opening remarks of Tesla's earnings call that the company would be "launching unsupervised Full Self-Driving as a paid service" in Austin in June. "We already have Teslas operating autonomously at our factory in Fremont and will soon be doing that at our factory in Texas," Musk said. Musk acknowledged that he has made big self-driving promises and predictions that have not come through for many years. He said, with a laugh, "I'm telling you there's a d--- wolf this time. And you can drive it. In fact, it can drive you. It's a self-driving wolf!" Musk added later in the call that Tesla will "look to release Unsupervised FSD in many regions" of the U.S. by the end of this year. He said there is "significant interest" from "a number of major car companies about licensing" the technology, but without providing any names or offering a timeline. The company uses online forum Say Technologies to solicit and choose investor questions for executives to answer on the calls. As of Tuesday, more than 100 inquiries had flooded in about Tesla's plans around autonomous vehicle technology. Additionally, many shareholders submitted questions about Musk's obligations at the White House, and about the effect of his political and public conduct on the company. Musk has recently made offensive jokes and gestures making light of the Holocaust, and has promoted Germany's far-right, anti-immigrant party AfD, or Alternative fur Deutschland, ahead of the country's elections in February. As reported earlier by CNBC, Tesla's brand value shed $15 billion in 2024, owing to multiple factors including the company's aging lineup of EVs, and Musk's incendiary political rhetoric and conduct, according to research by Brand Finance. Tesla's energy business fared much better in the quarter than its core automotive unit. The company reported energy generation and storage revenue of $3.06 billion for the three months that ended Dec. 31, 2024, up 113% from the same period in the prior year. WATCH: Musk 'resisting' budget Tesla model

achilton1987 on January 29th, 2025 at 21:28 UTC »

Do stocks normally go up when they miss earnings?

smokesbuttsoffground on January 29th, 2025 at 21:16 UTC »

Can't believe too many of Tesla's potential customers want to enrich a guy who wants to get rid of the EPA.

MiloGoesToTheFatFarm on January 29th, 2025 at 21:16 UTC »

Aww, you’re breaking my heart.