The electric car maker continues to hold its estimated 9,720 bitcoins, losing just $34 million on its investment due to falling prices by the end of 2022. Electric Carmaker Tesla Refuses to Offload Bitcoin Anymore, In the second half of 2022 despite selling off 75% of its stake in the second quarter.
In its latest fourth-quarter earnings report on Jan. 25, Tesla’s financials showed that it neither bought nor sold any bitcoin for the second quarter in a row. This was the case despite the severe market volatility caused by the FTX crash in November and December.
The company held $184 million in digital assets as of Dec. 31, 2022, the filing showed, down from $218 million in the previous quarter, as a $34 million drop in bitcoin prices occurred between late September and December last year. impairment charges. Bitcoin was around $19,500 on Sept. 30, 2022, before falling nearly 15% to $16,600 on Dec. 31.
The electric car maker also held bitcoin in the third quarter of last year after selling 75% of its holdings in the second quarter. Sales in the second quarter added $936 million in cash to Tesla's books, and the company posted a profit of $64 million. Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained at the time that the sale was to “prove that Bitcoin’s liquidity is an alternative to holding cash on the balance sheet.”
However, Tesla did not discuss its Bitcoin holdings or Bitcoin holdings during its latest earnings call on Jan. 25. According to estimates, Tesla holds around 9,720 BTC. Overall, Tesla posted a profit of $5.7 billion on revenue of $24.3 billion in the fourth quarter, with gross margins at their lowest level in five quarters. The company posted a total profit of $20.8 million in 2022 on revenue of $81.4 billion. The revenue figure fell short of analysts' expectations, but its profit beat consensus estimates.
Tesla's stock price rose slightly on the day, closing up nearly 0.40%. It continued to trade positively after hours, up nearly 4.6% at the time of writing, according to Google Finance.
