Hyperdrive
Tesla Slumps After First Results as a Blue Chip Disappoint
- EV maker’s shares drop as much as 7% in early trading Thursday
- Margins shrank in latest quarter, but CFO expects rebound
This article is for subscribers only.
Tesla Inc. reported lower-than-expected profit and record revenue, mixed results that disappointed investors used to razzle-dazzle from the newly minted member of the S&P 500 Index.
The electric-vehicle market leader reported an adjusted fourth-quarter profit of 80 cents a share Wednesday, falling short of analysts’ consensus for $1.03 and well below the blowout result a year earlier -- before the global pandemic set in. The results marked a sixth straight profitable quarter but also the first time the company missed Wall Street’s estimate for earnings per share since July 2019.