Tesla, a maker of electric vehicles, declined to sell more Bitcoin in the second half of 2022 despite reducing its holdings by 75% in the first quarter. Due to price reductions until the end of 2022, the EV manufacturer kept holding onto its projected 9,720 Bitcoin, only losing $34 million on its investment.
According to Tesla’s financials, for the second consecutive quarter, it neither acquired nor sold any of its Bitcoin, as reported in its Q4 results announcement on January 25. This was true, notwithstanding the significant market turbulence that followed the collapse of FTX in November and December.
Bitcoin’s bear market effects on Tesla
According to the documents, the company had $184 million in digital assets as of December 31, as opposed to $218 million the previous quarter. This decline is attributable to $34 million in impairment charges brought on by Bitcoin’s price decline between the end of September and December of the previous year.
On September 30, Bitcoin was approximately $19,500. By December 31, it had decreased by roughly 15% to $16,600. The EV maker also kept holding onto its Bitcoin into the third quarter of last year after selling 75% of it in the first. The Q2 sale increased Tesla’s cash on hand by $936 million, and the company made a profit of $64 million.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, said at the time that the transaction was intended to “show Bitcoin’s liquidity as a substitute for storing cash on a balance sheet.” However, Tesla’s most recent earnings conference on January 25 did not address its Bitcoin holdings or position. On average, Tesla has 9,720 Bitcoin.
Tesla’s gross margins hit 5-Year low in 2022
In all, Tesla earned $5.7 billion on $24.3 billion in sales in Q4, but its gross margins were at their lowest point in five quarters. From $81.4 billion in sales, the corporation reported a total profit of $20.8 million for 2022.
Although the revenue total fell short of analyst expectations, the profit exceeded consensus expectations. The share price of Tesla closed the day with a gain of around 0.40%. According to Google Finance, it continued to trade favourably after hours and was up roughly 4.6% at the time of writing.
