TSLA Q1 2024 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Tesla, Inc. Q1 2024 Earnings Call
• Date: April 23, 2024 at 9:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Martin Viecha (VP of Investor Relations)
  • Elon Musk (CEO)
  • Vaibhav Taneja (CFO)
  • Ashok Elluswamy (VP of AI)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Auto gross margin excluding Cybertruck declined from 18.9% to 18.5% sequentially.
• Energy business achieved record profitability with margins reaching 24.6% in Q1.
• The company reported negative free cash flow of $2.5B in Q1 driven primarily by inventory growth and elevated CapEx.
• Inventory increased due to a mismatch between bills and deliveries, and Tesla expects that inventory bill to reverse in Q2.
• Revenues declined quarter over quarter for the auto business due to seasonality and macro pressure, with the exact revenue change not disclosed.
• Model 3 Fremont ramp and Berlin disruptions increased costs that were largely offset by cost reduction initiatives, with normalized Model Y cost per vehicle in Austin and Berlin close to Fremont.

Guidance

• Tesla expects energy storage deployments in 2024 to grow at least 75% versus 2023.
• The company expects free cash flow to return to positive in Q2 as the inventory bill reverses.
• Tesla expects to install roughly 85,000 H100s by year-end after commissioning about 35,000 H100s to date.
• The company expects to beat supplier nickel-based cell costs for EV cells by the end of the year.
• The next-generation lower-cost vehicles timeline has been accelerated with start of production expected around early 2025 or possibly late 2024.
• Tesla expects to continue ramping Cybertruck production through the year while focusing on cost efficiency and quality.