Tesla earnings fall far short of lowered expectations
Tesla fell short of analysts’ already diminished expectations for the first quarter, reporting earnings per share of $0.27, compared with Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of $0.47, and revenue of $19.3 billion, compared with an expected $22.1 billion.
Analysts had been significantly cutting back their expectations for the electric vehicle company’s revenue and earnings over the past month, since Tesla released disappointing delivery numbers, selling 50,000 fewer vehicles in the first quarter than analysts had expected or than it had a year earlier.
Still, the company said plans for its robotaxi launch and less expensive vehicles remain on track. The stock was little changed after-hours.
Despite CEO Elon Musk repeatedly referring to the company as an AI and robotics firm, Tesla makes the vast majority of its revenue — 72% in Q1 — from vehicles, so car sales are heavily tied to the company’s financial performance. Tesla has been offering heavy discounts in order to move inventory and lowering its average selling price, so the impact on Tesla’s bottom line wasn’t expected to look pretty.
Tesla last quarter promised a “return to growth in 2025” as far as vehicle sales. In 2024, Tesla delivered a disappointing 1.8 million vehicles. Its latest announcement no longer mentions that return to growth.
The earnings report follows disappointing full-year earnings for 2024, when Tesla’s annual net profit declined by more than 50% year on year.
