Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) fourth-quarter earnings call comes on the heels of yet another blockbuster quarter that saw the electric car maker posting $7.38 billion in revenue and an earnings per share of $2.14, beating the Street’s estimates.
As revealed in the company’s Q4 and Full Year 2019 Update Letter, Tesla is GAAP profitable once more and is likely on track towards even more stable financial ground. The company generated $1.1 billion of free cash flow for the year, propelled in part by the sustained, stable demand for the Tesla Model 3.
For today’s earnings call, Tesla executives are expected to address questions surrounding the company’s plans for the coming year, as well as the electric car maker’s upcoming projects such as Giga Berlin and the ongoing expansion of Giga Shanghai.
The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q4 2019 earnings call. I will be updating this article in real-time, so please keep refreshing the page to view the latest updates on this story.
16:29 PT – Joseph Osha from JMP Securities inquired about Tesla’s acquisition of Maxwell technologies. Musk referred once more to the company’s upcoming Battery Day, where the company will discuss its plans with the company’s technologies, including its supercapacitors and dry electrode innovations, which Musk said will play an important part in Tesla’s future plans.
-->16:26 PT – While answering an inquiry from Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research, Musk remarked that Tesla has gone way deep in battery technology. “Wow, we really know a lot about batteries,” he said.
16:25 PT – Dan Levy of Credit Suisse reiterates the idea that Tesla should raise capital now to acquire more companies. Elon Musk jokingly asked the analyst which company should Tesla acquire now. Levy seemed flustered.
To be fair, Musk has a point here, and Kirkhorn discussed this point too. There’s not a lot of sense in raising money right now since Tesla is already spending its funds as much as it can.
16:20 PT – Elon Musk and Kirkhorn noted that at this point, Tesla’s priority is all about lowering its costs and increasing its margins. This will apply to the Model 3 and Model Y ramp, with the latter likely enjoying a lot of demand. The Tesla executives also mentioned that Tesla is now testing the waters when it comes to products that are low cost and high margin, which are represented by paid software upgrades such as the Model 3’s Acceleration Boost Upgrade.
16:15 PT – Gene Munster of Loup Ventures takes the floor and asks a question about the Cybertruck, particularly its expected demand and costs for production. Elon Musk declined to release specific figures, though he noted that demand is healthy for the all-electric truck. He also stated that the focus with the Cybertruck is all about battery production. This makes sense, especially since the Cybertruck, as well as vehicles like the Semi, require a lot of batteries. This is a challenging endeavor, and it will be discussed in Tesla’s upcoming Battery Day.
Elon did state that Battery Day could probably happen after this quarter.
-->16:05 PT – Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley issues his inquiry, asks if Teslas will be compatible with Starlink. Musk stated that this is something that can happen in the future, explaining that Starlink is a high-bandwith system. It’s a lot of bandwith for a car, but it can be done, though the antenna to receive Starlink signals are about the size of a pizza box. Musk then added that he doesn’t really think about it very much.
16:00 PT – Addressing retail investors’ questions, Kirkhorn noted that the vehicles produced in Giga Shanghai will be just as, if not more profitable than vehicles produced in the United States. Musk added that it’s mostly a matter of costs. There’s just far more optimizations that can be done if a factory could produce vehicles for that specific region.
When asked if it is wise to raise money now, Musk stated that Tesla at this point is actually spending what it can right now. “We’re spending money efficiently, and we’re not artificially limiting our progress. In line with that, it does not make sense to raise money at this level,” Musk said. Kirkhorn believes this strategy, explaining that Tesla has gotten smarter about how the company is when it comes to spending money.
But what’s the most encouraging part here is that both Musk and Kirkhorn promised that there will be no slowdown when it comes to Tesla’s growth.
15:55 PT – Tesla starts taking questions from retail investors. First up, solar installations. Musk stated that Tesla is working with firms to take on the roofing market for the Solarglass Roof. In the future, the CEO stated that homeowners would simply have the choice of having a roof that generates power, or a roof that’s simply a roof.
Another question from retail shareholders involved the Tesla Network, and if it can be deployed even before FSD is fully approved. Elon Musk stated that such an idea makes sense. Kirkhorn added that Tesla intends to allow customers to have the choice to enter their vehicle to a ride-sharing network.
-->When it comes to Tesla Insurance and its existing coverage, Kirkhorn stated that the priority right now is to expand the service. “There’s a significant amount of innovation in this space,” the CTO said. Musk also stated that there will be a discount in Tesla Insurance if owners use Autopilot. Higher use of Autopilot would mean lower insurance costs.
Musk also noted that Tesla’s feature complete FSD will likely happen within the next few months. He added that he was very optimistic about its target timeframe, which was initially set for the end of 2019.
15:45 PT – Kirkhorn sets expectations for Q1, describing that the company’s profitability may be impacted due to unexpected headwinds in China such as the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Ongoing projects such as Giga Berlin and Giga Shanghai would also play a part.
15:43 PT – CTO Zach Kirkhorn stated that 2019 was a key year for Tesla. The company transitioned from meeting a reservation backlog to generating more demand for the Model 3. Capacity-wise, Tesla learned a lot in the Model 3 ramp in Fremont and Giga Nevada. These were aggregated and applied to facilities such as Giga Shanghai.
Kirkhorn also mentioned something notable — Tesla is starting to earn from its software services. This is huge, as the company could generate quite a lot of profit from its software-based services. The Acceleration Boost alone is notable.
-->The CTO added that the Model Y’s margins will likely be better than the Model 3. This bodes very well for the electric car maker. The MIC Model 3 is also seeing healthy demand in China.
15:38 PT – Elon further notes the company’s rationale with the Cybertruck, and how Tesla opted to stay out of the box with the vehicle’s design. The CEO added that the brutalist vehicle actually has quite a lot of demand.
“The demand has been incredible. I think we can make for as many as we can sell for many years. It’s going to be pretty nuts,” he said, adding that the product is better than what many people realize. This totally makes me want a Cybertruck even more.
“(We’re) super fired up where Tesla will be in the next ten years,” Musk said.
15:33 PT – Martin Viecha opens the call and introduces the participants of the call. Elon Musk takes over and mentions Tesla’s strong demand. He focuses on Tesla having the highest demand EVs in the world with zero advertising spend. Musk also noted that Fremont is already at a production pace comparable to NUMMI’s peak before. And this is before the Model Y.
Elon specifically mentions Giga Shanghai and congratulates the China team. “I think it’s going to be an incredible asset for the company. There’s a lot of good progress there,” he said.
-->Musk also revealed that Model Y initial production has begun. The crossover is efficient like a beast — 315 miles per charge. This is more than what the company initially stated during its unveiling last year.
15:30 PT – And it’s time for the earnings call to begin. But so far, it seems like the call will be starting a bit later than expected. Elon Time V2? Let’s see.
15:20 PT – Hello and good day, everyone, and welcome to yet another Live Blog coverage of Tesla’s earnings report. With the electric car maker posting yet another profitable quarter. I’m no prophet, but there’s a good chance that 2020 will be far kinder to TSLA shareholders than in 2019.
Other Tesla Q4 and Full Year 2019 Highlights
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
-->“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
Investor's Corner
Tesla analyst maintains $500 PT, says FSD drives better than humans now
The team also met with Tesla leaders for more than an hour to discuss autonomy, chip development, and upcoming deployment plans.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) received fresh support from Piper Sandler this week after analysts toured the Fremont Factory and tested the company’s latest Full Self-Driving software. The firm reaffirmed its $500 price target, stating that FSD V14 delivered a notably smooth robotaxi demonstration and may already perform at levels comparable to, if not better than, average human drivers.
The team also met with Tesla leaders for more than an hour to discuss autonomy, chip development, and upcoming deployment plans.
Analysts highlight autonomy progress
During more than 75 minutes of focused discussions, analysts reportedly focused on FSD v14’s updates. Piper Sandler’s team pointed to meaningful strides in perception, object handling, and overall ride smoothness during the robotaxi demo.
The visit also included discussions on updates to Tesla’s in-house chip initiatives, its Optimus program, and the growth of the company’s battery storage business. Analysts noted that Tesla continues refining cost structures and capital expenditure expectations, which are key elements in future margin recovery, as noted in a Yahoo Finance report.
Analyst Alexander Potter noted that “we think FSD is a truly impressive product that is (probably) already better at driving than the average American.” This conclusion was strengthened by what he described as a “flawless robotaxi ride to the hotel.”
-->Street targets diverge on TSLA
While Piper Sandler stands by its $500 target, it is not the highest estimate on the Street. Wedbush, for one, has a $600 per share price target for TSLA stock.
Other institutions have also weighed in on TSLA stock as of late. HSBC reiterated a Reduce rating with a $131 target, citing a gap between earnings fundamentals and the company’s market value. By contrast, TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating and a $509 target, pointing to strong autonomous driving demonstrations in Austin and the pace of software-driven improvements.
Stifel analysts also lifted their price target for Tesla to $508 per share over the company’s ongoing robotaxi and FSD programs.
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