EARNINGS REVIEW
Tesla 2023 Q1 earnings report
Historical earnings report · Management guidance reflects expectations at the time of the release, not subsequent outcomes. The financial comparison uses the site’s normalized dataset, including comparative figures restated in later filings.
Price reductions increased volume but lowered margins.
Assessment · Price reductions increased volume but lowered margins. Reading consolidated margins alongside FCF separates business scale from cash realization. The next assessment depends on the business-specific checks set out below.
01 Business performance and growth drivers
Automotive revenue was 19.963 B$, Energy Generation/Storage 1.529 B$, and Services/Other 1.837 B$. Automotive includes regulatory credits and leasing; storage deployments in GWh are not revenue in B$.
Versus the preceding quarter, consolidated revenue changed by -0.989 B$ and operating profit by -1.237 B$; operating margin changed by -4.6 percentage points. Segment commentary explains the consolidated result. Sequential changes without controlling for acquisitions, seasonality and product transitions are not long-term growth rates.
02 Profit quality and margins
Operating margin was 11.4%; lower ASP, material/logistics/warranty costs, 4680 ramp costs and reduced credits pressured earnings.
On consolidated revenue of 23.329 B$, operating margin was 11.4% and net margin 10.8%. Net profit differed from operating profit by -0.151 B$, reflecting non-operating items, taxes and related effects. This difference cannot by itself be attributed to product demand or operating competitiveness.
03 Cash flow and financial capacity
Quarterly operating cash flow of 2.513 B$ less capital expenditure of 2.072 B$ gives common-basis FCF of 0.441 B$. Ending cash and cash equivalents were 16.048 B$, versus total liabilities of 37.598 B$. Liabilities are not equivalent to borrowings; cash excludes separately reported short-term investments.
Common-basis FCF was 1.9% of revenue. Both operating cash flow and capital expenditure refer to this quarter, not annual or trailing-twelve-month periods. Working-capital movements and non-cash adjustments mean operating cash flow need not equal net profit.
04 Management commentary and contemporaneous guidance
Energy and Services gross-profit growth partly cushioned automotive pricing pressure.
The company maintained its roughly 1.8 million 2023 production outlook and planned Cybertruck production that year.
05 Risks and next checks
Assess demand response to price cuts alongside margins and FCF; more volume alone does not establish greater economic profit.
Quarterly results · CY-aligned view
| Metric · B$ | 2022 full-year total | 1Q 2022 Q1 2022-03-31 | 2Q 2022 Q2 2022-06-30 | 3Q 2022 Q3 2022-09-30 | 4Q 2022 Q4 2022-12-31 | 2023 total of 1 included quarters | 1Q 2023 Q1 2023-03-31 | QoQ Δ | YoY Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 81.462 | 18.756 | 16.934 | 21.454 | 24.318 | 23.329 | 23.329 | −0.989 | 4.573 |
| Operating income | 13.656 | 3.603 | 2.464 | 3.688 | 3.901 | 2.664 | 2.664 | −1.237 | −0.939 |
| Operating margin (%) | 16.764 | 19.210 | 14.551 | 17.190 | 16.042 | 11.419 | 11.419 | −4.622 pp | −7.791 pp |
| Net income | 12.556 | 3.318 | 2.259 | 3.292 | 3.687 | 2.513 | 2.513 | −1.174 | −0.805 |
| FCF · company definition | 7.566 | 2.228 | 0.621 | 3.297 | 1.420 | 0.441 | 0.441 | −0.979 | −1.787 |
| Operating cash flow · total | 14.724 | 3.995 | 2.351 | 5.100 | 3.278 | 2.513 | 2.513 | −0.765 | −1.482 |
| Net cash CapEx · common | 7.158 | 1.767 | 1.730 | 1.803 | 1.858 | 2.072 | 2.072 | 0.214 | 0.305 |
| Cash CapEx · Chinese company definition | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FCF · total calculation | 7.566 | 2.228 | 0.621 | 3.297 | 1.420 | 0.441 | 0.441 | −0.979 | −1.787 |
| Net cash · liquid assets less borrowings | 20.140 | 14.592 | 15.763 | 18.710 | 20.140 | 20.650 | 20.650 | 0.510 | 6.058 |
| Liquid assets · including short-term investments | 22.185 | 18.013 | 18.915 | 21.107 | 22.185 | 22.402 | 22.402 | 0.217 | 4.389 |
| Borrowings · interest-bearing debt | 2.045 | 3.421 | 3.152 | 2.397 | 2.045 | 1.752 | 1.752 | −0.293 | −1.669 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 16.253 | 17.505 | 18.324 | 19.532 | 16.253 | 16.048 | 16.048 | −0.205 | −1.457 |
| Total liabilities · accounting liabilities | 36.440 | 30.632 | 30.855 | 33.302 | 36.440 | 37.598 | 37.598 | 1.158 | 6.966 |
CY denotes the calendar quarter with the greatest overlap with the fiscal period. If the first period has no start date, 89 days before its end is used only for calendar mapping. Financial values are not recalculated into calendar quarters. Incomplete years show totals of included quarters; cash, liabilities, borrowings and net cash use the last period-end balance. QoQ and YoY show absolute changes; margin changes are percentage points. Dashes indicate missing evidence or incomparable periods or definitions. Total liabilities never substitute for borrowings.
Definitions and evidence coverage
A dash means unavailable or undisclosed, not zero. Company-defined FCF may differ from total operating cash flow less common-basis CapEx. Total liabilities are accounting liabilities, not interest-bearing debt.
Management commentary summarizes the contemporaneous official earnings release; this report does not represent a full conference-call Q&A review.
Official source documents
- TSLA 2023 03 31 release ↗
- Canonical financial data filing reference ↗
- Tesla Q2 2023 update comparative financial table ↗
- Filing source of the existing audited financial series ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-03-31 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-06-30 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-06-30 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-09-30 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-09-30 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-12-31 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-12-31 ↗
- Financial filing · 2022-12-31 ↗