Tesla (TSLA) earnings preview: it’s going to be an interesting one
Tesla (TSLA) is about to release Q4 2023 and full-year 2023 financial results on Wednesday, January 24, after the markets close. As usual, a conference call and Q&A with Tesla’s management are scheduled after the results.
Here, we’ll take a look at what both the street and retail investors are expecting for the quarterly results.
Tesla Q4 2023 deliveries
While Tesla is an “AI/robotics” company, according to CEO Elon Musk, its automotive deliveries remain the biggest drivers of financial performance.
Tesla already disclosed its Q4 vehicle delivery and production numbers:
| Production | Deliveries | Subject to operating lease accounting | |
| Model 3/Y | 476,777 | 461,538 | 2% |
| Other Models | 18,212 | 22,969 | 3% |
| Total | 494,989 | 484,507 | 2% |
And here are Tesla’s full-year 2023 production and delivery numbers:
| Production | Deliveries | |
| Model 3/Y | 1,775,159 | 1,739,707 |
| Other Models | 70,826 | 68,874 |
| Total | 1,845,985 | 1,808,581 |
Tesla had been aiming for 1.8 million deliveries for the whole year.
Delivery and production numbers are always slightly adjusted during earning results.
Tesla Q4 2023 revenue
For revenue, analysts generally have a pretty good idea of what to expect, thanks to the delivery numbers.
However, Tesla’s average price per vehicle is changing a lot these days due to frequent price cuts and discounts across many markets, which makes things more difficult.
The Wall Street consensus for this quarter is $25.640 billion, and Estimize, the financial estimate crowdsourcing website, predicts a slightly lower revenue of $25.598 billion.
The crowdsourcing estimate is rarely lower than Wall Street consensus.
If Tesla can reach $25 billion in revenue, it would be a new quarterly record for the company.
Here are the predictions for Tesla’s revenue over the past two years, with Estimize predictions in blue, Wall Street consensus in gray, and actual results are in green:
Tesla Q4 2023 earnings
Tesla always attempts to be marginally profitable every quarter as it invests most of its money into growth, and it has been successful in doing so over the last three years now.
However, like revenues, it has been harder to estimate earnings this year with price cuts digging into Tesla’s industry-leading gross margins.
For Q4 2023, the Wall Street consensus is a gain of $0.73 per share, while Estimize’s prediction is slightly higher with a profit of $0.74 per share.
This would be significantly lower year-over-year amid price cuts.
Here are the earnings per share over the last two years, where Estimize predictions are in blue, Wall Street consensus is in gray, and actual results are in green:
Other expectations for the TSLA shareholder’s letter and analyst call
Beyond the financial results, Tesla always gives broader updates and answers shareholder questions in its shareholder letter and conference call with management following the release of the results.
Tesla gathers questions from shareholders from the “Say Technologies” website.
The currently most upvoted question is about the next generation Tesla vehicles:
Given that you moved the start of the next generation compact vehicle production to Austin, has the timeline improved so that we might see next generation platform vehicles in 2025?
It’s a fairly simple question about getting an official timeline for the next-generation vehicle, which we will probably not get a straight answer on. Tesla doesn’t like to make product announcements on its earnings calls.
The second most upvoted question is a bit more interesting:
Should retail shareholders be concerned that Elon has stated he is uncomfortable expanding AI and robotics at Tesla if he doesn’t have 25% of voting?
This is in relation to Musk asking for a 25% voting control at Tesla, which would require the company to give him about $60 billion worth of shares, or he would prefer to build AI products at his new xAI startup.
We highlighted the conflict of interest problem and even possible breach of fiduciary duties that he is opening himself to with his statements.
This is probably the softest way to ask about this issue, but it is still going to be interesting to get a response from Musk or the rest of Tesla’s management.
The rest of the top questions are pretty straightforward, like the state of the Cybertruck backlog and the timelines for Gigafactory Nevada expansion and Gigafactory Mexico construction.
Finally, Tesla should also be sharing guidance for 2024, which should be interesting.
Join us on Electrek tomorrow for the best coverage of Tesla’s earnings.
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The all-electric luxury electric SUV is getting significantly cheaper. Lexus launched a new entry-level 2025 RZ trim with starting prices over $10,000 less than last year’s model. And you get just as much driving range.
2025 Lexus RZ electric SUV prices and driving range
Lexus launched its first dedicated EV last year, the RZ electric SUV. Starting at $55,175, the 2024 Lexus RZ 300e has a range of up to 266 miles.
The 2024 RZ 450e AWD, equipped with its dual-moto DIRECT4 system, has a range of up to 196 miles. Prices start at just under $60,000. Both models are offered in Premium or Luxury packages.
Lexus is drastically lowering prices for the 2025 model year. The 2025 Lexus RZ starts at $43,975, and that includes the $1,175 delivery fee.
At under $44,000, prices for the 2025 RZ start at over $10,000 less than last year’s model. The lower price tag comes as Lexus added a new entry-level RZ 300e FWD trim to the lineup.
The 2025 Lexus RZ 300e FWD still has an EPA-estimated 266-mile range (18″ wheels), so despite the lower price, it’s no loss from last year’s model. It’s powered by a 72.8 kWh battery pack from global leader CATL.
Lexus modified the subframe for the FWD model, replacing the rear eAxle from the AWD model. The result is a quieter, smoother drive.
Powered by a 71.4 kWh battery, the 2025 RZ 450e AWD has an EPA-estimated driving range of up to 220 miles (18″ wheels).
| 2025 Lexus RZ model | Starting Price* | EPA-estimated Driving Range |
| RZ 450e AWD | $48,675 | 220 miles |
| RZ 450e Premium AWD w/ 18″ Wheel | $52,875 | 220 miles |
| RZ 450e Premium AWD w/ 20″ Wheel | $54,115 | 196 miles |
| RZ 450e Luxury AWD | $58,605 | 220 miles |
| RZ 300e FWD | $43,975 | 266 miles |
| RZ 300e Premium FWD w/ 18″ Wheel | $48,175 | 266 miles |
| RZ 300e Premium FWD w/ 20″ Wheel | $49,415 | 224 miles |
| RZ 300e Luxury FWD | $53,905 | 266 miles |
The 2025 Lexus RZ is available in three grades. These include the new entry-level model, in addition to the current Premium and Luxury trims.
Inside, the electric SUV has a minimalistic feel with a standard 14″ infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support at the center.
You can also opt for the available 10″ head-up display (HUD), Mark Levinson Surround Sound System, and a host of safety features.
The flat platform provides a spacious interior with 37.52″ of rear legroom, nearly as much as the second row of a Ford Explorer (39″).
With the 2025 model arriving at dealerships soon, Lexus is offering closeout prices on 2024 models with up to $18,500 in lease cash discounts. You can use our link to find the best offers on the Lexus RZ at a dealer near you today.
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Environment
‘Political malpractice’ if Trump undoes climate-geared Biden projects, outgoing U.S. energy secretary says
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks to the media on day five at the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference on November 15, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A potential decision by Donald Trump to walk back the Biden administration’s climate-geared projects would impact jobs in areas governed by the President-elect’s own party, outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNBC, urging consistency in Washington’s green transition policies.
Referencing the White House’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement — a 2015 treaty in which nearly 200 governments made non-binding pledges to reduce greenhouse emissions — during Trump’s first mandate, Granholm said the U.S. pressed ahead with projects linked to the green transition that members of Congress wanted to undertake in their districts.
“We are now building all of these projects. We’re building batteries for electric vehicles, we’re building the vehicles, we’re building the offshore wind turbines, we’re building the solar panels. And all of those are factories. And those factories are in districts of members of Congress,” she told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Friday at the COP29 U.N. climate conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
She estimated that 80% of the funding from U.S. President Joe Biden’s legacy bills — the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — went to U.S. districts represented by Republican leadership.
“It would be political malpractice to undo those opportunities when people are just now getting hired,” she said, stressing benefits to the manufacturing sector and noting that the business community of the world’s largest economy and oil producer now wants a clear course from Washington on its climate policy.
“This isn’t about in [the Paris Agreement], out, shifting back and forth. Let’s have a consistent practice,” she said.
When asked for a response on Granholm’s comments, Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said the president-elect will “deliver” on the promises he made on the campaign trail.
International focus has now shifted on the shape of the U.S.’ future role in global climate policy, as Trump prepares to take the helm at the White House for a second mandate in January, following a sweeping victory against Democrat candidate Kamala Harris. Trump — who has yet to announce his own pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy — put hydrocarbons at the front and center of his campaigning agenda, pledging to “end Biden’s delays in federal drilling permits and leases that are needed to unleash American oil and natural gas production.”
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in March said that the country already “produced more crude oil than any nation at any time” for the past six years to 2023, averaging a crude oil and condensate production of 12.9 million barrels per day that year — breaking the previous U.S. and global record of 12.3 million barrels per day recorded in 2019, during Trump’s first mandate.
Yet Granholm on Friday stressed that the clean transition is also “unleashed” and will take place regardless of who is leading the White House — and that ignoring climate change risks sacrificing Washington’s position as a frontrunner in the blooming decarbonization industry.
“Why would we take a second, a backseat to an economic competitor like China?” she asked. “They have an economic strategy, they want to be number one. So if we get out of the game, we’re just going to cede that territory all over again. It’s bad strategy for the United States and for workers and for communities across the country.”
As the world braces for the possibility of a second U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement, some climate activists note that the green transition has now gained a different global momentum than during Trump’s first turn at the White House:
“There is no denying that another Trump presidency will stall national efforts to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment, but most U.S. state, local, and private sector leaders are committed to charging ahead,” Dan Lashof, U.S. director of the World Resources Institute, said in a Nov. 6 statement.
“Donald Trump heading back to the White House won’t be a death knell to the clean energy transition that has rapidly picked up pace these last four years.”
Granholm also identified potential support in Trump’s current entourage, which this week welcomed business tycoon Elon Musk as the president-elect’s choice to head a new Department of Government Efficiency, alongside conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy:
“His right-hand man, Elon Musk, is somebody who has been strongly in favor of products that … address climate change. Obviously, he’s the founder of Tesla,” Granholm pointed out.
Musk’s environmental stance has come under question over the years, shifting from telling Rolling Stone magazine that “climate change is the biggest threat that humanity faces this century, except for AI” and backing carbon taxes to holding that the world needs hydrocarbon supplies as a bridge to renewable energy.
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