Being a pompous Nazi is apparently not good for business, as the latest Tesla earnings report indicates.
For the third time in four quarters, Tesla missed revenue targets, this time by a hefty 5.25%. And that’s not even the worst of it.
CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest person nearly twice over the second-place Jeff Bezos, announced profits of $2.3 billion for the final quarter of 2024, compared to $7.9 billion a year ago.
Yet even those two numbers are smoke and mirrors—in 2023, that profit included a one-time tax benefit of $5.9 billion, and last quarter’s numbers include a $600 million profit from bitcoin. Yes, nearly a third of the profit of this supposed car and battery storage company came from something completely unrelated to its core business.
Another $692 million of that profit came from regulatory clean energy credits purchased by other car companies to meet air quality emission standards. In other words, another third of Tesla’s profit came directly from the same kind of government regulations that Donald Trump (with Musk’s help!) and the GOP Congress has promised to hack.
For all of 2024, Tesla’s profit was $7.1 billion, half of the $15 billion Tesla made in 2023. And 2024 was also the first year in which Tesla shipped less cars than the year prior.
Tesla’s stock has been climbing this past year thanks to Musk’s capture of the U.S. government, because the company’s performance sure hasn’t earned it.
There’s Musk’s politics, of course, with people starting to call Teslas “Swasticars.” That has had a marked effect on sales among liberal buyers—the bulk of electric car purchasers. In California—Tesla’s large market—year over year sales dropped by 12.6% even as the overall electric vehicle market grew.
But his own inability to harbor dissent and disagreement has also played a big part. For example, in 2021 Tesla shifted all its cars to a “yoke” steering wheel because Musk preferred it to a traditional steering wheel. After sales lagged, Tesla brought back regular steering wheels in 2023, leaving the yoke as a paid upgrade feature.
The current cars have had all stalks eliminatedmeaning you have to feel on the steering wheel for turn signals and use the touch screen for park, drive, reverse, etc, as well as turning on windshield wipers. It looks like the new refreshed Model Y will have a turn-signal stalk once again, evidence that Musk’s stupid whims are costing the company sales.
His stupid Cybertruck (a flop) and robots have been such a distraction that none of his other cars have had aesthetic refreshes since 2016. My Tesla from that year looks exactly like the same model today.
The technology has changed, certainly, but self-driving is no more advanced today, with eight or nine cameras (depending on the model and year), than my nine-year-old car with just two. Musk, as he does every quarter, promised that self-driving is just around the corner! No one believes him anymore. None of that helps goose sales as fresher, more exciting brands hit the market.
So what happens to Tesla when it no longer has bitcoin to hawk (or it craters), and when Trump and his Republican goons in Congress get rid of all programs to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles? Or when those same people get rid of clean air regulations that have meant billions in revenue for Tesla over the years?
And tariffs, what about tariffs!
Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. is spearheading an effort to block new tariffs on graphite imports from China, pitting Donald Trump’s richest backer against the president’s favorite economic tool.
Graphite is an essential component in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, and China makes more of it than any other country. It is currently subject to US tariffs of 25% […]
On Friday, the US International Trade Commission voted for the Commerce Department to proceed with an investigation that could lead to tariffs on Chinese graphite of as high as 920%.
Musk’s wealth is underpinned by Tesla, a company that is currently valued at $1.3 trillion … on an annual profit of $7.1 billion. It’s absurd.
Everyone would be better off with a more rational valuation of the company, and it would be deliciously ironic if Musk’s new Republican buddies help make that happen.
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