Tesla Cars Are Getting More Expensive. Musk Blames Rising Costs. - Barron's

A scene from a Tesla dealership in Beijing.

Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images

Prices for Tesla cars are on the rise after a string of reductions in recent months, so investors, and car buyers, may be a little surprised. The reason for the increases, however, is anything but surprising.

Back in 2020, the electric-vehicle company (ticker: TSLA) began aggressively cutting prices for its vehicles, raising concern among bearish analysts and investors that it could signify Tesla was facing a problem with demand amid the pandemic. Those more upbeat on the company read the news as a positive sign that costs for producing the cars were falling.

In the end, Tesla delivered a record amount of cars in 2020, profits were solid, and the stock rose more than 740%. The bulls won that debate.

Now, with prices rising, the discussion over what is happening has restarted. Bulls wonder if the prices are rising in response to high demand for Tesla vehicles and an industrywide shortage of vehicles.

Used-car prices are at record highs. And the global semiconductor shortage has constrained car production, leaving consumers with little leverage when they try to haggle over pricing for a vehicle at the dealership.

Bears are also focused on the semiconductor shortage, but they believe prices are rising out of necessity, because parts, and commodities, are getting more expensive. Higher prices might end up hurting demand for Tesla vehicles, leading to a shortfall in deliveries relative to Wall Street’s expectations. What’s more, higher costs, might squeeze profit margins.

CEO Elon Musk demystified the debate on Monday, responding to a tweet about rising prices. The bears are winning this round. Prices are up because raw material prices are rising and because of “major supply chain price pressures industry-wide.”

Musk also dealt with the removal of lumbar support in some vehicles. Removing features would be another area for bears to worry about, but Musk said the lower-back support was removed because few people used it.

How deliveries and profit margins turn out in coming quarters is still up for debate, so the stock hasn’t reacted much to the latest news. Shares were up about 0.6% in premarket trading, in line with moves in futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Year to date, Tesla stock is down about 11%, giving back some of 2020’s epic gains. Rising interest rates–which hurt high growth, richly valued stocks such as Tesla more than others–along with new EV competition and the chip shortage have weighed on shares.

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Tesla Cars Are Getting More Expensive. Musk Blames Rising Costs. - Barron's
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