Luxury car company Tesla did not sell its Bitcoin holdings throughout the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023. This information was disclosed in its released financial report. Tesla has maintained its Bitcoin holdings for six consecutive quarters.
The report also mentions that the current total Bitcoin holdings of Tesla amount to $435 million worth of BTC. At the time of this writing, the price of BTC was around $39,956. Before the Q4 financial report was issued, it was known that Tesla had 9,720 BTC.
Tesla began its Bitcoin investment journey in February 2021, under the direction of CEO Elon Musk. At first, Tesla invested $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency, gaining a significant profit. After a while, Tesla sold its Bitcoin holdings to test market liquidity. Tesla retained approximately $1.99 billion worth of Bitcoin by the end of the same year. In July 2022, Tesla decided to sell 75% of its Bitcoin holdings, boosting its cash reserves to $936 million.
Tesla's Financial Report Says..
While the latest report states that Tesla remains consistent in its Bitcoin investment, behind that, the company's performance tends to flop. In Q4, Tesla experienced only a modest 1% year-over-year increase in revenue.
The total gross profit experienced a decline of 23%, and operating income dropped by 47%. On the other hand, the energy generation and storage division reported a 10% increase in revenue.
Other divisions also saw a significant jump in revenue, at 27%. The majority of Tesla's revenue still comes from its automotive business. But still, the earnings per share and total revenue fell below market expectations.
"In 2024, our 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," said Tesla according to its financial report.
Tesla's Insight
Tesla About to Launch New Car 2025
This year, Tesla's stock decreased 16%. Elon Musk warned investors regarding a sharp slowdown in Tesla (TSLA.O) sales. He projects that increasing electric vehicle production will be a significant challenge nowadays. That's all because of the need for revolutionary new manufacturing technology. Tesla has informed its suppliers to prepare for the launch of a smaller crossover vehicle in June 2025. This move is taken to compete with affordable electric vehicles produced by BYD China.
Elon Musk Asked for 25% Stake
Another related topic from Elon Musk. He recently said that he's not comfortable developing the company into a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics without having at least a 25% controlling stake. He said this concern through his platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), on Thursday (01/25/2024).
He emphasized that without substantial ownership of Tesla, he would prefer to focus on creating products outside the realm of electric vehicle manufacturing. On the other hand, he praised Tesla's full self-driving software and partially automated humanoid robot prototypes.