Tesla's Q4 profit below expectations of $1.08 billion

Tesla Inc’s fourth-quarter profit fell short of average analyst expectations for a $1.08 billion quarterly profit, which was compounded by its failure to provide a clear target for 2021 vehicle deliveries to send shares down 4.4 percent in extended trade.

Haris Anwar, a senior analyst at Investing.com, said that after the company's unprecedented run in 2020, investors were anticipating a substantial earnings beat and another big target for car deliveries in 2021.

However, Tesla's $10.74 billion quarterly revenue slightly surpassed analyst expectations of $10.4 billion.

Net income excluding share-based compensation payouts to founder Elon Musk rose to $903 million from $386 million last year, according to data from Refinitiv.

Tesla shares surged nearly 700 percent over the past 12 months, on expectations that the EV maker will quickly and profitably expand.
Investors had hoped for a significant increase over Tesla's 2020 delivery goal of half a million vehicles.

Tesla announced that it expects to achieve 50 percent average annual growth in vehicle deliveries.

In the fourth quarter, Tesla delivered a quarterly record of 180,570 vehicles, but narrowly missed its 2020 goal of half a million deliveries.
The company also noted that the average sales price per vehicle dipped 11 percent on a yearly basis, with consumers switching to the less expensive Model 3 and Model Y.

Tesla ramped up production in China in 20202, and last month began selling a locally-made Model Y sport utility vehicle at a price analyst say is disruptive.

Tesla has begun building factories for vehicle and battery manufacturing near Austin, Texas, and Berlin, Germany, and is on track to start deliveries from each location this year.