NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – With the buyers of his electric cars, Tesla boss Elon Musk score points with its aggressive price policy – but not with investors. This was shown by the clearly negative reaction on the stock market to the latest quarterly report.
Shares in the world’s largest automaker by stock market value fell to $161.61 on Thursday, the lowest level since the end of January. Most recently, they were still down more than 10 percent on the NASDAQ 100, at $162.08, and also dragged down smaller competitors Lucid and Rivian (Rivian Automotive), whose shares fell 6.3 and 4.3 percent, respectively . Since the beginning of the year, however, Tesla has claimed a price increase of almost 32 percent, which means that the shares are still quite far ahead in the index ranking.
In the middle of the week after the end of US trading, the group announced that it was setting its previous sales record for electric cars. However, he was still unable to fully meet the high expectations – just like with the strong increase in sales of almost a quarter compared to the same period of the previous year.
In addition, the net profit fell to a similar extent, which was also reflected in a significantly lower operating profit margin. JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman spoke of a margin development that was well below expectations. It was also the first drop in profits since the final quarter of 2019. Mark Delaney from the US investment bank Goldman Sachs similarly complained that the most recent price cuts had surprisingly significantly impacted profitability in the auto business. In view of further planned measures, this trend should also continue, he fears.
However, Delaney remains positive about Tesla’s long-term market positioning – also with regard to the company’s cost structure. Analyst Tom Narayan from the Canadian bank RBC also spoke of the right strategy in the long term, which strengthens the company’s cost leadership. Regardless of the pain in the form of falling margins, he still sees Tesla as the best-placed electric car maker.
The company itself also assumes that, despite the price reductions, it will continue to be one of the most profitable companies in the industry. In the first quarter, the operating profit margin fell to 11.2 percent – from 16.0 percent in the previous quarter and 19.2 percent a year ago. In comparison, the margins of Ford (Ford Motor) (Ford Motor) and General Motors were recently five and seven percent./gl/he
Leverage must be between 2 and 20
No data