Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc and X (formerly Twitter) Ceo speaks at the Atreju political convention organized by Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), on December 15, 2023 in Rome, Italy.
Antonio Masiello | Getty Images
Tesla is set to report fourth-quarter earnings for 2023 after the bell Wednesday.
Here’s what analysts are expecting, according to estimates compiled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
Earnings: 74 cents per share
Revenue: $25.6 billion
While other U.S. automakers struggled to make and sell a high volume of fully electric vehicles last year, Tesla reported 484,507 deliveries in the fourth quarter and more than 1.8 million for 2023. Hefty price cuts helped Tesla achieve that number, which was a record for the company.
Tesla’s revenue likely increased by around 5% year over year for the quarter, per LSEG.
On the global stage, Chinese auto giant BYD topped Tesla during the last quarter of 2023. But Tesla maintained its lead in sales of battery electric vehicles for the full year.
Labor costs are rising domestically. In order to make its wages competitive versus automakers like General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, where employees are represented by the United Auto Workers, Tesla recently rolled out pay increases for many of its hourly factory employees in the U.S.
Tesla is also facing union pressure in Sweden and across Scandinavia, and a wide-ranging array of litigation and ongoing regulatory probes in the U.S. and Europe. CEO Elon Musk is under more pressure than ever to deliver on his longstanding promise of a software update that can turn existing Teslas into self-driving robotaxis without hardware changes.
Tesla shareholders submitted questions for executives to answer via the platform Say Technologies ahead of the earnings call.
They’re asking when Tesla plans to debut its “next-generation” vehicle, a more affordable EV referred to by fans as the Model 2. Investors also want to know the number of orders Tesla has received for its recently released Cybertruck and when the company plans to increase production of its 4680 battery cells and electric Semi truck at its Nevada Gigafactory.
Shareholders voiced concerns about Musk’s recent demand to control more of the company. In a Jan. 15 post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk wrote: “I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned. Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.”
On the Say platform, investors asked, “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?”
Even investor Ross Gerber, who’s been a Musk fan and Tesla bull for years, bristled at the proposition. Gerber said on CNBC’s “Last Call” with Brian Sullivan, that Musk was “blackmailing” Tesla shareholders, and that “the idea that he doesn’t control Tesla is absurd.” He added that “everyone on the board is a friend or family member of his.”
Musk is already building artificial intelligence products outside of Tesla, including at X.AI, a startup he incorporated in Nevada in March 2023, according to public filings. On a Tesla earnings call in July 2023, Musk told analysts, “there were just some of the world’s best AI engineers and scientists that were willing to join a startup but they were not willing to join a large, sort of relatively established company like Tesla.”
Tesla has announced plans to build its own data centers, Dojo supercomputers and a humanoid robot, branded Optimus.
Tesla shares have dropped about 16% so far this year as of Tuesday’s close after more than doubling in 2023.
Advanced Micro Devices‘ CEO Lisa Su shut down concerns over Big Tech’s elevated spending during an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday and said investing in more computing will accelerate the pace of innovation.
“I don’t think it’s a big gamble,” she said. “I think it’s the right gamble.”
Many of AMD’s hyperscaler customers over the last 12 months have beefed up spending as the technology reaches an “inflection point” and companies can see the return on that spending, Su added.
Su’s comments come as tech’s megacaps announced more than $380 billion in AI spending in their latest earnings reports as the firms race to build out infrastructure to support soaring demand.
Read more CNBC tech news
On Tuesday, Su told analysts that AMD expects revenues to grow 35% per year over the next three to five years due to “insatiable” AI chip demand.
Shares were last up more than 7%.
Concerns of a potential AI bubble have jolted markets in recent sessions as Wall Street raises concerns that valuations have gotten too high.
Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Coinbase is following Tesla out of Delaware and into Texas.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday that the crypto exchange is moving its state of incorporation, a year after Elon Musk did the same with his electric vehicle maker. Musk also reincorporated his rocket maker SpaceX from Delaware to Texas.
“Delaware’s legal framework once provided companies with consistency. But no more,” Grawal wrote, pointing to recent “unpredictable outcomes” in the Delaware Chancery Court.
A handful of notable names, including Dropbox, TripAdvisor and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz have announced departures from Delaware. It’s a move that was championed by Musk following a Delaware Chancery Court ruling that ordered Tesla to rescind the CEO’s 2018 pay package, worth about $56 billion in options.
“If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible,” Musk wrote in a post on X in February 2024, when he filed to change SpaceX’s incorporation state.
Read more CNBC tech news
Last week, Tesla shareholders voted to approve Musk’s more recent pay package, which could be worth up to $1 trillion.
Delaware has long been the dominant state for U.S. companies to incorporate due to its flexible corporate code and expert judiciary, and is seen as balancing the rights of executives and shareholders. A Texas state law allows corporations to limit shareholder lawsuits against insiders for breach of fiduciary duty.
Coinbase and Andreessen Horowitz, an early backer, currently face a lawsuit in Delaware concerning the sale of shares in the crypto company tied to its public listing in 2021.
Like Musk, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was a major contributor to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House.
Mike Intrator, Chief Executive Officer and founder of CoreWeave, poses for a photo during the company’s Initial Public Offering(IPO) at the Nasdaq headquarters on March 28, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Chips and dip
2. Numbers game
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
Bill Clark | Getty Images
While the government shutdown could be over soon, don’t expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to release all the missed economic data immediately.
As CNBC’s Jeff Cox reports, government agencies will need time to catch up on data collection. If the shutdown ends this week, Goldman Sachs estimated that the BLS could have a schedule for when it would release reports — but not the data itself — out early next week.
Market watchers are especially eager to see what job market data will say, as other data sources point to loosening in the labor force. Adding to the uncertainty is the rise of “ghost job” postings, a term used to describe listings for open roles that have never appeared to be filled.
3. Payment plans
A protester with the Main Street Alliance holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court, as its justices are set to hear oral arguments on U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to preserve sweeping tariffs after lower courts ruled that Trump overstepped his authority, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 5, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
President Donald Trump floated a tariff rebate check over the weekend. Experts are warning you shouldn’t hold your breath.
Policy analysts and economists told CNBC’s Jessica Dickler that Trump’s idea of paying Americans a “dividend” of at least $2,000 — except for “high income people” — likely wouldn’t happen anytime soon. They also warned that this type of economic stimulus could drive up inflation.
Speaking of tariffs, CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco reported that U.S. importers are expecting a simple repayment process if the Supreme Court rules against Trump’s levies and forces a refund.
4. Capital, capitol
Bitcoin and USA flag on a cracked wall.
Ruma Aktar | Istock | Getty Images
The Senate Agriculture Committee this week released a draft of its part of a market structure bill for digital assets, a major step toward greater investor adoption of cryptocurrencies.
The draft lays out a framework for how to place guardrails on the industry and institutions that want to utilize digital assets. Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto trade association Digital Chamber, called it “the most consequential roadmap” for how institutions will utilize these currencies.
The Roger models, named after former tennis player and company investor Roger Federer, are displayed in a shop of Swiss shoemaker On in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2025.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters
On, the Swiss sportswear company,isn’t seeing the same slowdown as other shoe makers. The company reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its guidance this morning, saying it wouldn’t need to offer Black Friday deals to juice demand. Shares of On surged nearly 9% in premarket trading.
Elsewhere in fitness, Oura CEO Tom Hale told CNBC in an exclusive interview that the smart ring maker could see $2 billion in sales in 2026, almost doubling sales for a second straight year. Oura raised $900 million in a funding round last month, bringing its value to $11 billion. But public market investors shouldn’t get too excited: Hale said there’s “no news on an IPO” for the Finnish company.
The Daily Dividend
Consumer sentiment varies significantly by the amount of stocks individuals hold. Click here to read more about how the biggest owners are buoying economic confidence, and what could change that.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Kif Leswing, Ashley Capoot, Jordan Novet, Yun Li, Jeff Cox, Jessica Dickler,Lori Ann LaRocco, Liz Napolitano, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Tasmin LockwoodandArjun Kharpalcontributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.