Tesla unwraps a yearly record, but fails to deliver a confidence boost as Elon’s Twitter era takes focus

’Twas Elon-g year… Between launching rockets, running Tesla, and buying Twitter, it was a very long year for Elon Musk. Tesla kicked off the brand-spanking-new year by reporting its latest delivery numbers. The EV pioneer unloaded 1M+ cars for the first time, but Wall Street wasn’t impressed with the final tally: Tesla stock plunged 12% yesterday — its worst drop in over two years.

• Tesla Wrapped: Elon’s baby delivered a record 1.3M cars last year, up 40% from 2021. The impressive growth still fell shy of the 50% target Tesla had set.
• UnMuskular: Fourth-quarter deliveries were up 18% from the previous quarter, to 405K cars, disappointing analysts’ (already lowered) expectations. Demand for Teslas has softened as rising interest rates bite consumers.

Less editing mode, more Ludicrous mode… Some investors saw the disappointing results as confirmation that Musk is too distracted with running Twitter — but Tesla’s year was a mixed bag of wins and losses:

• Attraction: Tesla’s growth rate beats all its major rivals, it’s one of the most profitable carmakers, and it’s boosting production at new digs in Texas and Germany.

• Traction: Tesla had to halt production numerous times at its largest factory, in Shanghai, as China’s strict Covid policy continued. Meanwhile, electric-car maker BYD surpassed Tesla’s sales in China, casting doubt on its future dominance.

• Distraction? To some, Musk appears to have been preoccupied with revamping Twitter, which he bought in October for $44B. He sold billions worth of his Tesla shares to help finance the buyout.