Electric vehicle maker Tesla refused to sell any more Bitcoin (BTC) in the second half of 2022, despite selling 75% of its holdings in the second quarter.
In its latest Q4 earnings report, dated Jan. 25, Tesla’s financials show it hasn’t bought or sold Bitcoin for the second quarter in a row. This is despite severe market turmoil in November and December over the collapse of FTX.
The documents show that the company owns $184 million in digital assets as of December 31, 2022, down from the previous quarter’s $218 million in assets due to $34 million in impairments, as Bitcoin’s price fluctuates between at the end of September and December last year. .
Bitcoin was around $19,500 on September 30, 2022, before falling nearly 15% to $16,600 on December 31.
The EV maker also held onto its Bitcoin through the third quarter last year after selling 75% of its Bitcoin in the second quarter. The second-quarter sale added $936 million in cash to Tesla’s books and the company benefited $64 million.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, explained at the time that the sale was to “prove Bitcoin’s liquidity as an alternative to holding cash on a balance sheet.”
However, Bitcoin ownership or Bitcoin acquisition was not discussed in Tesla’s most recent earnings call on Jan. 25. Based on estimates, Tesla has about 9,720 BTC.
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Overall, Tesla posted $5.7 billion in profit from $24.3 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, with gross margins hitting the lowest level in five quarters. The company posted a total profit of $20.8 million for 2022 from $81.4 billion in revenue.
In 2022, we produced and delivered more than 1.3 million vehicles
In the fourth quarter, we achieved our highest-ever quarterly revenue, operating income and net income → https://t.co/6WkUryAhKO pic.twitter.com/aOzmL76uja
—Tesla (@Tesla) January 25, 2023
The revenue figure missed analyst estimates, but earnings outperformed consensus estimates.
Tesla’s share price had risen slightly that day and closed with a gain of almost 0.40%. It continued to trade positive after hours, up nearly 4.6% at the time of writing according to data from Google Finance.
