Tesla revenues grow 81% from last year

Tesla just reported first-quarter earnings for 2022 and beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines. Here are the key numbers.

• Earnings per share: $3.22 vs $2.26 expected
• Revenue: $18.76 billion vs $17.80 billion expected

Shares rose as much as 5% in after-hours trading.

Automotive revenue reached $16.86 billion, up 87% from the same period last year. Automotive gross margins jumped to 32.9% with Tesla reporting gross profit of $5.54 billion in its main segment. Regulatory credits accounted for $679 million of automotive revenue for the quarter.

Revenue growth was driven in part by an increase in the number of cars Tesla delivered, and an increase in average sales prices, the company said in its shareholder deck.

Early this month, Tesla reported vehicle deliveries of 310,048 for the first quarter, the closest approximation of sales disclosed by the company. Model 3 and Model Y vehicles comprised 95%, or 295,324, of deliveries in the period ending March 31, 2022.

In its energy segment, Tesla’s solar deployments dropped by nearly half to 48 MW in the first quarter of 2022 versus the same time last year. The company deployed 846 MWh of lithium ion based battery energy storage systems, up 90% from the same time last year, but down from the previous quarter.

The company said declines in solar deployments were caused by import delays on certain components that were beyond Tesla’s control.

Wednesday’s earnings call comes amid news of CEO Elon Musk‘s hostile takeover bid for Twitter, the social media platform he has relied on to promote Tesla and his own public image for years.

Musk no longer leads or speaks on every Tesla earnings call. But ahead of Wednesday’s update, he said that he plans to be on the call, which starts at 5.30 p.m. ET.

Tesla recently opened two new factories outside of Berlin, Germany, and Austin, Texas, and the CEO appeared for both grand opening events.

Investments in these massive new facilities are part of Tesla’s effort to localize production and lower the cost and improve the speed of distributing vehicles from factories to customers in major markets throughout Asia and Europe.

Amid inflationary pressures, parts and semiconductor chip shortages exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic and Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, Tesla global vehicle inventory dwindled to a three-day supply in the first quarter of 2022. That’s down from a four-day supply of global vehicle inventory in the previous quarter, and eight-day supply during the first quarter of 2021.

“Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters,” Tesla said in its shareholder deck. The company did not give detailed guidance on deliveries going forward, but said it expects 50% annual growth on a multi-year basis, and warned that supply chain constraints are likely to continue through 2022.

This story is developing; please check back for updates.