Shares of Tesla plummeted more than 10% in afternoon trading on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the company reported earnings that fell short of expectations and cautioned of sluggish sales over the duration of this year.
Revenue and profits missed analyst expectations over the three months ending in December, according to the earnings report released on Wednesday.
In all, the company delivered 1.81 million cars in 2023, more than it had in any previous year, the earnings report said. However, Tesla has cut prices as it faces increased competition, putting downward pressure on the company’s revenue.
Further, the company’s vehicle delivery growth “may be notably lower” in 2024, Tesla said in the earnings release.
“Tesla is nothing more than a struggling car company,” Gordon Johnson, CEO and founder of data firm GLJ Research, who is bearish on Tesla, told investors in a note Thursday reviewed by ABC News.
For its part, Tesla said the slowdown owes to the company’s focus on developing a “next-generation vehicle” that will arrive as soon as the second half of 2025. That improved vehicle will supercharge sales, the company said.
“Our company is currently between two major growth waves,” the earnings report said. “The first one began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform and the next one we believe will be initiated by the global expansion of the next-generation vehicle platform.”
The explanation, echoed during a conference call Wednesday, failed to allay the concerns of Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at the investment firm Wedbush, who is typically bullish on the company.
The conference call, Ives told ABC News in a statement, amounted to a “trainwreck.”
Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, June 16, 2023.
Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters, FILE
The earnings report has shaken the “near-term confidence” previously endorsed at Wedbush, Ives added. “But we remain firm on a long-term bull thesis around Tesla and the broader AI story set to take hold,” he added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew attention last week when he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he’s seeking greater voting control of the electric carmaker, threatening to otherwise pursue major projects such as artificial intelligence outside of the company.
The Tesla board, Musk said, should grant him 25% voting control, an amount that would nearly double the vote share currently afforded to Musk through his stake in the company.
The company has also faced government inquiries over risks posed by some of the technology in its vehicles.
In December, Tesla agreed to recall about 2 million cars over a safety issue tied to its autopilot system, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. Earlier this month, the company recalled an additional 1.6 million vehicles exported to China, citing a problem with the car’s assisted steering system.
The uncertainty that looms over the company, Ives said, amounts to a “bitter pill to swallow for the bulls.”
