Tesla stock falls 12% as EV maker warns production growth will be ‘notably lower’ than 2023

Tesla stock (TSLA) fell 12% on Thursday after the company reported fourth quarter earnings late Wednesday that missed estimates and issued a downbeat full-year production outlook.

For the fourth quarter, Tesla reported top-line revenue of $25.17 billion against $25.87 billion expected; revenue rose approximately 3% from a year ago. Tesla reported adjusted EPS of $0.71 against $0.73 expected. Adjusted net income totaled $2.48 billion against the $2.61 billion expected by the Street.

In terms of its full-year production, Tesla said its “vehicle volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023, as our teams work on the launch of the next-generation vehicle at Gigafactory Texas,” indicating it would not reach Street estimates of 2.19 million for 2024, which would have been a 21% increase from 2023.

Tesla stock has lost more than 26% this year.

On a call with analysts, CEO Elon Musk did confirm that the company’s next-gen vehicle will be coming in the second half of 2025. In its earnings release and later on the earnings call, Tesla also mentioned progress on its next-gen manufacturing platform.

“We are focused on bringing the next-generation platform to market as quickly as we can, with the plan to start production at Gigafactory Texas,” the company said. “This platform will revolutionize how vehicles are manufactured.”

“We’re very far along on our next-gen low-cost vehicle. We’re really excited about this. This is a revolutionary manufacturing system, far more advanced than any other in the world,” Musk said on the earnings call, clarifying that the company’s current schedule has this vehicle hitting production in the second half of 2025. This echoes a report from Reuters earlier Wednesday that said Tesla told suppliers it wants to start production of a new mass-market EV codenamed “Redwood” in mid-2025.

Tesla’s drop in profitability is likely due to downward pressure on margins since Tesla began its cost-cutting efforts late in 2022. Tesla…