Tesla 4Q net income doubles due to tax benefit but earnings fall short of analyst estimates

DETROIT — Tesla’s net income more than doubled last quarter on a one-time tax benefit, even as electric vehicle price cuts and slowing sales growth cut into profits.

The Austin, Texas, vehicle, solar panel and battery maker said its net income was $7.93 billion from October through December, compared with $3.69 billion a year earlier.

But excluding one-time items such as the $5.9 billion noncash tax benefit for deferred tax assets, the company made $2.49 billion, or 71 cents per share. That was down 39% from a year ago and short of analyst estimates. Data provider FactSet said analysts expected earnings of 73 cents per share.

Tesla reported quarterly revenue of $25.17 billion, up 3% from a year earlier but also below analyst estimates of $25.64 billion.

Earlier this month Tesla reported that fourth-quarter sales rose by almost 20%, boosted by steep price cuts in the U.S. and worldwide through the year. Some cuts amounted to $20,000 on higher priced models.

Tesla’s sales growth rate was slower than previous quarters. For the full year, it sales rose 37.7%, short of the 50% growth rate that CEO Elon Musk predicted in most years. The company reported deliveries of 484,507 for the quarter. As usual, the bulk of Tesla’s sales were its lower-priced Models 3 and Y.

Fast growing Chinese powerhouse BYD passed Tesla in the fourth quarter as the world’s top-selling EV company.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.