Investor's Corner
LIVE BLOG: Tesla (TSLA) Q4 and Full Year 2021 earnings call summary
Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call comes on the heels of a breakthrough quarter that saw the company grow its revenue by 65% YoY in Q4 to $17.7 billion while improving its operating income to $2.6 billion. As noted by the company in its Q4 and FY 2021 Update Letter, it is now no longer a question if electric vehicles are a viable and profitable business.
Despite various projects such as the active buildout of Giga Berlin and Gigafactory Texas, as well as the additional expansions of Giga Shanghai and the Fremont Factory, Tesla still ended the fourth quarter with a strong war chest, with quarter-end cash and cash equivalents increasing sequentially by $1.5 billion to $17.6 billion in Q4 2021.
The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2021 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. The first entry starts at the bottom of the page.
15:32 – And that ends the Q4 and FY 2021 earnings call! That was an interesting ending to it, with Elon Musk discussing the similarities of the chip shortage to the toilet paper panic in the United States due to Covid. Classic Elon Musk.
That said, thanks so much for staying with us for yet another live blog. Here’s to the next! Cheers!
15:28 – New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu asks about Tesla’s 4680 ramp, and how its form factor can be adopted by suppliers as well. Is it something that will be used outside Tesla?
Zachary Kirkhorn confirms that yes, Tesla has engaged a number of its suppliers on the 4680 form factor. “We’re engaged because we think it’s a great form factor,” he said.
That said, the 4680 form factor is not “the ultimate form factor.” Iron cells, for example, are not optimized for the 4680 design.
15:24 – Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi asks about FSD’s take rate. Elon notes that with FSD, “you do not want to look into the rearview mirror” since the technology is such a profound step change. And when that happens, the value of such a system will be very big in number.
With regards to Tesla’s product roadmap, Sacconaghi asked if Tesla can hit about 3 million vehicles per year by 2024 by just selling a couple of high volume cars and vehicles like the Cybertruck. Elon rounds back to FSD and the value it provides. “If the cost of our cars don’t change at all, we’ll still sell as much as we make,” he said.
15:18 – Ben Kallo from Baird asks about Tesla’s R&D organization efforts. Tesla executives noted that while the company does not have “incubators,” teams simply work on things that go into products. Elon and the other executives then highlighted the value of working on real projects, which are taken from innumerable ideas.
15:15 – Analyst questions begin. First up is Canaccord analyst Jed Dorsheimer, who asked about Tesla’s Energy Business and Energy Products. Elon notes that Tesla will using iron-based cells for its energy storage products. “All stationary storage will storage would shift to an iron-based or non-nickel-based system,” he said, adding that manganese is also a “wild card” for batteries.
Musk admits that Tesla Energy was shortchanged last year in favor of the company’s vehicle business. But this was done because of chips, not cells. Long term, Tesla is still aiming for a TWh/year energy business.
When asked if 2022 will be a year where Tesla Energy will recover, Musk noted that the chip shortage might alleviate this year. But there will be growth this year. Definitely. “If we respond to demand, (Tesla Energy) will grow by two or three hundred percent,” Musk said.
15:10 – On Level 4 abilities and if Dojo is required. Elon notes that Dojo is not needed to reach FSD. He also explains that ultimately, the human driver is not a very high standard at all. “Several profound improvements coming to the FSD stack in the next few months,” Musk said.
15:07 – On margin improvements. The Model Y is key since it’s just so much more profitable than the Model 3. Localization in Giga Shanghai is also something notable since localization is a huge help for margins. Of course, price increases in certain markets help on margin improvements as well.
Zach did note that Tesla’s software business should be the main focus, as the margins there are very notable. This will be very true when FSD and Robotaxis finally happen.
15:04 – A question about the constraint to Cybertruck production was asked. Elon notes that it’s probably not gonna be batteries that would be the Cybertruck’s constraint. There are lots of new technologies in it that will take some time to work through. Its price also has to be reasonable. The goal is currently to build 250,000 Cybertrucks per year.
15:01 – A question about each factory’s max output was asked. Elon notes that it’s hard to answer such a question, since it’s easy to expand the maximum capacity of a factory. “It’s possible to increase capacity,” Elon noted, adding that Tesla will be increasing its factories’ capacity across the board.
15:00 – A question about the first use of the Tesla Bot has been asked. “If we can’t find a use for it, we can’t expect others to find a use for it. The first use of Optimus will be at Tesla, like moving parts around the factory,” Musk said. He also joked that the name “Optimus sub-prime” is sticking to the project.
As for Tesla Insurance, it is currently available in five states. Both Elon and Zach agree that insurance with informatics are useful, since if people know how they’re driving, they tend to drive safer. Take rates have been quite strong as well. “Our internal goal here by the end of the year is that 80% of Tesla customers could choose Tesla insurance by the end of the year,” Kirkhorn said.
14:56 – A question about a potential perpetual and term FSD licenses was asked. Elon notes that such a system seems complicated. Tesla would rather focus on ensuring that it could offer FSD at a reasonable price.
As for Dojo, yes, it is on track for “doing something useful” summer of this year. When the FSD development team would rather use Dojo than their current systems, then that’s the time that the supercomputer would start being utilized. “Dojo is not needed for Full Self-Driving. It’s a cost optimization for training vast amounts of data,” Musk explained, later noting that “If Dojo is competitive, it is the kind of thing we might offer to other companies.”
14:52 – A question about Tesla’s potential line of home HVAC systems was asked. Elon and the other Tesla executives seem very positive about the idea. It’s not gonna stop at home HVAC systems, either, with the “next logical step” being water heating. “I think it would be quite a game-changer down the road, but we’ve got a lot of fish frying,” Elon said.
14:50 – Investor questions are starting. First is about the $25,000 car. “We’re not currently working on the $25k car. We have enough on our plate right now. Too much, frankly,” Musk said. The CEO also noted that the question is wrong, since “the thing that really matters is when the car is autonomous, which causes cost of transport to drop by 4-5x.”
14:48 – Zach Kirkhorn takes the stage. He highlights that regulatory credits contributed less to Tesla’s finances this quarter, and it will continue to be reduced. He also notes that supply chain constraints impacted Tesla’s excess expenses, just like Elon Musk’s CEO Performance Award. He congratulates the Tesla team for a “terrific” 2021, and he notes that he is looking forward to another amazing year. Both Elon and Zach also thank Tesla’s suppliers for their help.
14:43 – In terms of priority, Musk believes that the Optimus humanoid robot is the most important product from Tesla. “This, I think, will be the most significant [product] over time,” Musk said, adding that “I’m not sure what an economy even means” if there is no longer such a thing as labor shortage.
The in-house 4680 battery cell program was also discussed. Structural packs are being assembled every day, and they are being built into vehicles that are produced in Texas every day. First vehicles with 4680 structural packs should start deliveries in the near future, perhaps by the end of the quarter.
14:40 – After discussing the value of FSD, Elon starts discussing Tesla’s product roadmap. Musk says that he’s not gonna cover all of them since some of these products deserve a launch of their own. Pretty interesting.
The fundamental focus of Tesla this year is scaling output, so both last year and this year, if we were to introduce this year, our total vehicle output will decrease. “If we were to introduce new vehicles our total vehicle output would decrease,” he said. “We will not be introducing new vehicle models this year,” he noted, though he stated that there will be lots of engineering for those vehicles like the Cybertruck, Roadster, and products like Optimus.
14:36 – With this in mind, Elon notes that Tesla’s focus now will be the future. In short, Giga Berlin and Giga Texas. “We’ve been making quite a few cars in Austin and Berlin,” he said lightly, referencing the constant drone flyovers on both sites.
While Tesla is not poised to announce a new Gigafactory site this year, Musk did state that Tesla will be looking at new Gigafactory locations towards the end of the year. Oh, and Giga Texas will be building with 4680 cells and structural packs and will begin deliveries once certification is complete.
14:34 – Martin Viecha takes the stage. Elon is here, and so are Zach Kirkhorn and other Tesla executives. Here’s Elon’s opening remarks. He states that 2021 was a breakthrough year for Tesla, with growth volume increasing by 90%. Tesla’s highest operating margins were recorded in the year as well. And as a sweet note, there’s now accumulated profitability since the start of the company went positive after Q4 2021.
14:32 – Okay, and we’re starting! It begins.
14:28 – And here we go. Music’s on so now it’s just a matter of waiting. Will this start in Elon Time?
14:20 – While the Q4 and FY 2021 Update Letter was exciting, we gotta be honest here. This earnings call is extra compelling because Elon Musk previously announced he would be providing an updated product roadmap today. The Cybertruck’s been spotted all around Giga Texas, and a fleet of Tesla Semis was featured in the Update Letter. Will these two projects get some legitimate announcements today? One can hope.
14:15 – Greetings, and welcome once more to our Live Blog! I think everyone had a good feeling that Q4 2021 would be Tesla’s best quarter yet, but I still find it pretty hard to wrap my head around the fact that this company that was teetering so close to the edge just a few years ago is such a strong and consistent business now. Tesla said it right in its Q4 and FY 2021 Update Letter: At this point, there’s no more argument about EVs and their viability.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Elon Musk
Nvidia’s board meets on Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk already has an answer
Elon Musk says it would be an honor to hire Jensen Huang amid Nvidia turmoil.
Elon Musk says he would welcome Jensen Huang at one of his companies if Nvidia’s board decides to push out its longtime chief executive.
On Wednesday evening, the financial account ZeroHedge posted “Elon please hire Jensen” on X. Musk replied roughly two hours later: “That would be an honor.” Neither Huang nor Nvidia had responded publicly as of Wednesday night.
Musk’s reply came as Nvidia’s board met to decide Huang’s future. The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to oust him following reports of two extramarital relationships. One involves Alice Huang, a Singapore-based businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believe was working for China’s Ministry of State Security. The New York Times separately reported a relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care. Huang acknowledged being unfaithful in a memo to employees on Sunday but gave no details.
@zerohedge That would be an honor
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2026
Under Nvidia’s bylaws, a majority of its 11 directors can remove the CEO with or without cause. Bloomberg reported that the board has been working with an outside firm on possible replacements and may name an interim chief, with CFO Colette Kress seen as the likely pick. Nvidia shares fell more than 8 percent in extended trading, according to CNBC, and the company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on November 17.
Musk has more riding on Nvidia’s leadership than most tech executives. In August, he told investors on SpaceX’s first earnings call as a public company that it would build its AI infrastructure exclusively on Nvidia hardware, calling Vera Rubin “the best architecture.” SpaceX is also working with Nvidia on the compute payload for Starmind, its planned orbital AI constellation. In October, SpaceX said it had a binding commitment for a roughly $40 billion lease of Vera Rubin GPUs and related equipment, with the leases expected to begin in the first half of 2027.
The scale of that dependence is already enormous. On its Q3 call, SpaceX said it was bringing roughly 200,000 to 220,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs online each month and expects 2.5 to 3 GW of nameplate compute by the end of the year. That buildout is now reaching new sites like the proposed $24 billion power plant and supercomputer campus at Starbase.
The relationship between the two executives also goes back nearly a decade. Huang has often told the story of personally delivering Nvidia’s first DGX-1 AI supercomputer to Musk in 2016, when no other customer wanted one. “Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon,” Huang said on the Joe Rogan Experience last December.
Musk did not say what role Huang might fill, and his reply stops short of a formal offer. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and still owns about 3.6 percent of its stock, so any move to a Musk company would depend on whether, and how, he leaves the chipmaker he has run for more than three decades.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Anthropic deal has a catch, and Elon Musk just addressed it
Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Anthropic compute deal cuts both ways after Chamath floats higher prices.
Elon Musk pushed back on Sunday against the idea that SpaceX’s compute contract with Anthropic is a one way bet, after venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya argued the company could use a termination clause to charge the AI lab far more.
“It works both ways, of course. If compute becomes plentiful and cheap, SpaceX revenue will drop. No crying in the casino for either party,” Musk wrote on X Sunday evening, replying to a clip of Palihapitiya’s comments shared by AI commentator Rohan Paul.
On the All-In podcast released Sunday, Palihapitiya said either side can walk away from the agreement on 90 days’ notice. If data center supply tightens, he argued, SpaceX could exercise that option and bring the contract back at two to three times the current price, and Anthropic would have little choice but to accept. He called it “the kingmaking move,” according to BigGo Finance.
The clause itself is not new. SpaceX disclosed in its IPO filings in May that Anthropic would pay $1.25 billion per month for dedicated capacity at its Colossus clusters through May 2029, nearly $45 billion in total, with both companies able to terminate on 90 days’ notice, as Teslarati reported at the time. SpaceX’s later compute deals with Google and Reflection AI carry similar exit terms.
What has changed is the political backdrop. Palihapitiya’s thesis rests on incoming Democratic governors pulling tax incentives for data centers and slowing new construction. In Texas, Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a moratorium on new data center approvals, and Deutsche Bank analysts warned last week that SpaceX’s Texas compute capacity could face delays. SpaceX and Tesla shares both fell after the midterm results.
A slowdown would favor companies that already own capacity. SpaceX acquired xAI in February and has been renting data centers to outside AI labs before the space is needed for Grok. At the Baron Investment Conference on Friday, Musk said SpaceX was “getting 50 billion a year for 35 billion dollar investments” and that it can bring a data center online in eight or nine months, compared to two and a half years for competitors. He also said SpaceX is tracking toward an annualized revenue rate above $100 billion in December, with a “best guess” of $500 billion by December 2027.
Musk’s reply points to the other side of the clause. Anthropic has signed large compute agreements with Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and if that capacity comes online faster than new construction slows, the AI lab would have its own leverage to renegotiate or leave. Musk has called Anthropic “obviously currently the leader in AI,” and it remains one of SpaceX’s largest compute customers.
SpaceX shares rose more than 2 percent in overnight trading late Sunday after closing Friday at $134.27, according to Stocktwits.
Tesla and SpaceX shares fell on Wednesday after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress. The decline stood out as broader market securities recovered and turned positive, while both of Musk’s publicly traded companies lagged.
CEO Elon Musk already joked about the unsuccessful campaigning for the Republicans, but now the new party will make pretty drastic changes to how it handles Tesla and SpaceX, and those companies will adjust their outlook.
Let’s take a deeper look.
Tesla ($TSLA)
Tesla shares traded lower during the regular session after Democrats secured both the House and Senate. The stock was down 2.32 percent at around 1:45 p.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $389.30.
The pressure is tied to more than the raw scale of Musk’s political spending, estimated at $450–474 million this cycle with roughly $224 million directed at Texas. In that state, Tesla now faces a Democratic governor and a Democratic senator after Gina Hinojosa unseated Greg Abbott and James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton.
The Austin Gigafactory, Robotaxi pilot programs in multiple Texas cities, and any related AI compute expansion sit under a new state executive who campaigned against certain corporate subsidies and floated a moratorium on new data-center construction.
Federally, Democratic control of key committees opens the door to deeper examination of Tesla’s autonomous-driving safety record, federal energy-storage and manufacturing incentives, and the national-security implications of any combination with SpaceX.
Investors are also weighing whether the company’s historically close alignment with the prior Republican leadership will invite slower permitting, additional hearings, or tighter rules on Full Self-Driving deployment.
For Tesla, the political shift adds near-term friction around state permitting and federal regulatory approvals for autonomy and energy storage. A potential merger with SpaceX may face slower review even if it proceeds.
Core growth drivers such as vehicle deliveries, energy deployments, and robotaxi rollout remain intact, yet the stock now carries a higher political-risk premium that could weigh on valuation until the company demonstrates workable relationships with the new Texas leadership and congressional majorities.
SpaceX ($SPCX)
SpaceX shares also declined in live trading on November 4 following the Democratic midterm sweep. The stock traded at $134.97, down 4.49 percent. The drop occurred even as broader indexes stabilized, highlighting a company-specific reaction to the election outcome.
Musk’s large contributions, concentrated in Texas races that both companies lost, place SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility and headquarters under a new Democratic governor.
At the federal level, Democratic control of Congress enables greater scrutiny of NASA, the Department of Defense, and other contracts that support a meaningful share of revenue, along with reviews of Starlink national-security uses and any Tesla merger. Analysts have noted that empowered committees can hold hearings and request documents on these relationships.
For SpaceX, the results raise the risk of delayed contract awards, higher compliance costs, and tighter constraints on AI and satellite infrastructure expansion, particularly in Texas where a data-center moratorium has been discussed.
A merger with Tesla could encounter political friction that slows integration of launch, connectivity, and autonomy capabilities.
While Starlink growth and launch cadence continue as primary drivers, the company faces a more contested path for federal funding and state-level operations, requiring management to rebuild ties with the new congressional majorities and Texas leadership to limit the overhang.
Nvidia’s board meets on Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk already has an answer
Starlink Mini 2 arrives with one feature for true off-grid connectivity
