Bitcoin’s plunge could hurt Tesla’s bottom line
Sometimes bitcoin giveth, but lately it’s been taking away from Tesla.
A new accounting rule that took effect earlier this year requires Tesla to include unrealized gains and losses on its bitcoin holdings in its quarterly results. According to analyst Troy Teslike, Tesla is facing an unrealized loss of more than $300 million in the fourth quarter on its 11,509 bitcoin, thanks to bitcoin’s recent plunge. That would reduce its GAAP earnings per share by about $0.10. If bitcoin plummets further, say to $60,000, that unrealized loss could grow to more than $600 million, with a -$0.19 impact on EPS.
For context, the FactSet analyst consensus for Tesla’s net income in Q4 is penciled in at $1.6 billion with GAAP EPS of $0.37, so additional losses would represent a big earnings headwind. For a company already navigating margin pressure, bitcoin’s volatility adds one more wild card to the mix.