Tesla "Autonomous Taxi Launch in June"... 4% After-Hours Rise Despite Q4 Slump

Electric vehicle company Tesla's fourth-quarter results last year fell short of market expectations, but shares rose 4% in after-hours trading as CEO Elon Musk announced the launch of an autonomous taxi service.

Yonhap News

On the 29th (local time), Tesla announced in its earnings report that its fourth-quarter revenue last year was $25.707 billion (approximately 3.71081 trillion KRW), and earnings per share were $0.73 (about 1,054 KRW).

Both figures fell short of Wall Street's average estimates compiled by financial information firm LSEG (revenue of $27.26 billion, earnings per share of $0.76).

Total revenue increased by 2% compared to the same period last year, but automotive revenue declined by 8% to $19.798 billion (approximately 28.5784 trillion KRW).

Operating profit recorded $1.583 billion (about 2.2851 trillion KRW), down 23% from the same period last year.

On the New York Stock Exchange that day, Tesla's stock closed at $389.10, down 2.26% from the previous day, and fell more than 3% in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement.

However, at 7:59 PM (Eastern Time), the stock reversed course and traded up 4.15% at $405.25.

The stock movement appears to have been influenced by CEO Musk's announcement during the post-earnings conference call that Tesla plans to unveil its fully autonomous driving software (FSD)-based robotaxi service in June.

Musk stated, "We will launch FSD as a paid service without driver supervision in Austin, Texas (Tesla's headquarters) in June."

He added, "We are confident that by the end of this year, Tesla's fully autonomous service will be launched in several other U.S. cities, and probably nationwide in the U.S. next year."

He also mentioned that mass production of the robotaxi-exclusive new vehicle, Cybercap, is under development targeting next year, as announced in October last year.