Tesla earnings surge on record Q4 deliveries

Tesla Inc.'s quarterly revenue rose as the world's most valuable automaker sold a record number of vehicles to customers despite supply chain headwinds.

Net income attributable to shareholders surged to $2.32 billion, compared with $270 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 65 percent to $17.72 billion in the fourth quarter, from $10.74 billion a year earlier. Tesla has fared better than legacy automakers in dealing with the supply-chain issues by using less scarce chips and re-writing software quickly while others including General Motors and Ford Motor Co have had to idle production.

The company reported profits of $2.54 per share, $1.74 higher than the same quarter last year.

The company delivered more than 936,000 vehicles worldwide in 2021, up 87 percent from the year before and above the 50 percent average annual expansion projected over the course of several years. Tesla said that while supply chain issues would persist through 2022 and limit EV production, the company also predicted vehicle deliveries would still comfortably grow more than 50 percent year-over-year in 2022. The EV maker also said its Cybertruck is delayed until sometime in 2023.

Investors are tracking comments on Tesla's two new factories in Texas and Berlin that eventually could double the company's production capacity as competition heats up in the electric-vehicle market from legacy automakers as well as new entrants.

Analysts had expected the electric-vehicle maker to report revenue of $16.57 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Tesla shares were down more than 8 percent in midday trading Thursday.

This story will be updated.

Bloomberg contributed