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Elon Musk’s upbeat comments during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call helped Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLAShares of ) rallied sharply during the extended session on Wednesday.
During the presentation, Musk offered his perspective on the state of the US economy, his presence on social media, from Tesla (TSLA) as a company on artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and the impact of the automaker on the insurance industry. However, the most shocking statements from him were probably those related to the production and sales outlook for the full year.
To kick off the presentation, Musk immediately downplayed concerns about slowing demand, noting that the price cuts have led to record order levels.
“So far, in January, we’ve seen the strongest orders so far this year than ever in our history,” he said. “We are currently seeing orders at almost double the production rate.”
Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn added that the US price cuts were made in light of tax regulations, not demand concerns. Musk later added that the company may have the option to make “small price increases” throughout the year based on strong demand.
On the production front, Musk said the company’s 1.8 million vehicle production target is conservative. According to Musk, internal estimates peg the production rate for 2023 at around 2 million vehicles.
“We do not control if there are earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, pandemics, etc. If it’s a smooth year, without major supply chain disruptions or massive issues, we have the potential to make 2 million cars this year,” he told analysts. “I think there would be demand for that.”
Musk also provided an update on the production of the Cybertruck, forecasting that production will begin in the summer. However, he cautioned that “volume production” likely won’t take place until 2024.
While the shares trended for a fractional gain shortly before the call, shares rose to more than 5% profit for closing comments. Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 5.34% starting at 7:45 p.m. ET.
Learn more about earnings report details.
