Tesla beats revenue expectations, forecasts growth despite supply chain issues

The upbeat outlook from CEO Elon Musk sent shares up 1.6 per cent after hours and came after Tesla posted record quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street expectations.

Tesla Inc on Wednesday forecast annual deliveries would comfortably grow by more than 50 per cent year-over-year in 2022 despite supply chain issues that it said would continue through this year and limit electric vehicle production.

The upbeat outlook from CEO Elon Musk sent shares up 1.6 per cent after hours and came after the world’s most valuable automaker posted record quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street expectations.

But the cautious note about supply chain woes showed that even Tesla cannot avoid the shortages that were pitfalls for many larger automakers last year. And Tesla has the additional challenge of opening two new factories this year with chips and other parts in short supply and new batteries and technologies to be introduced.

Musk said that Tesla would not introduce new models this year, but hopefully would launch its Cybertruck, Semi and Roadster next year.

Revenue rose to $17.72 billion in the fourth quarter, from $10.74 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected the electric-vehicle maker to report revenue of $16.57 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Tesla has fared better than most automakers in managing supply chain issues by using less scarce chips and quickly re-writing software. The automaker last quarter handed over a record number of vehicles to customers despite supply chain headwinds.

“Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters as supply chain became the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through 2022,” Tesla said in a statement.

Tesla said on Wednesday that its new factory in Austin has started production of Model Y late last year, adding it plans to start deliveries to customers soon after final certification.