Topline
Shares of Tesla jumped late on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter results that largely beat Wall Street expectations, despite analyst concerns about production taking a hit from months of Covid lockdowns in China.
Tesla ended its streak of record profits after a decline in the second quarter.
Key Facts
Tesla’s stock rose less than 1% in after-hours trading after the electric vehicle maker reported mixed earnings, which showed production in the second quarter taking a hit from supply chain disruptions and a factory shutdown in China.
Tesla reported quarterly revenue of $16.9 billion—up 42% from a year ago but down from a record high of $18.7 billion in the previous quarter—while profit came in at $2.3 billion (down from $3.3 billion in the first quarter).
Analysts were expecting profit of $1.9 billion and revenue of $17.1 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Investors had been expecting earnings to take a hit from China’s two-month Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, which resulted in the closure of Tesla’s factory there.
The electric vehicle maker has also started implementing some layoffs, after CEO Elon Musk said in June that he had “a super bad feeling about the economy.”
Surprising Fact:
Tesla posted its third-best quarter financially, but growth still fell from the previous two quarters—though it did jump compared to a year ago.
Key Background:
Earlier this month, Tesla reported 254,695 electric vehicle deliveries in the second quarter—up 27% from a year ago but down 18% from the first quarter, when it delivered roughly 310,000 cars. Tesla’s stock has fallen nearly 40% this year, however, as analysts grow more skeptical about the company meeting its lofty production targets. In April, Musk forecast that the company would produce more than 1.5 million vehicles in 2022—but that production outlook will depend on the impact of the factory shutdown in Shanghai, which is still recovering from a two-month lockdown.
Big Number: $236.7 Billion
That’s how much Musk is worth, according to Forbes’ calculations. The richest person in the world, his net worth jumped nearly $2 billion on Wednesday as Tesla stock rose slightly ahead of the second quarter earnings report.
Further Reading:
Tesla Stock Can Jump Another 50% Thanks To ‘Superior’ Growth In The Years Ahead, Analysts Say (Forbes)
Tesla Quarterly Profit Soars To $3.3 Billion As Supply Chain, Covid Woes Cloud Outlook (Forbes)