In a sudden reversal, Tesla has increased the prices for some of its premium electric vehicles after a cascade of price cuts since January meant to stimulate demand.
On Thursday, Tesla raised the prices of its Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid – the performance versions of those models – to $107,490, up from $104,990 earlier, according to the company’s website.
The price of the Model X is now roughly 2.6% higher at $97,490, while that of the Model S was increased around 2.9% to $87,490.
Even so, all four premium models are still between 16% and 23% cheaper than they were earlier this year.
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Just a few days ago, Tesla dropped the prices of its Model Y “long range” and “performance” vehicles by $3,000 each, and the Model 3 with rear-wheel drive by $2000 to $39,990. Those were the sixth consecutive price cuts for Tesla models this year.
Tesla had been slashing its prices globally for several months in an attempt to increase demand for its mass-market cars, the Model Y crossover and the Model 3 sedan.
Tesla released its first-quarter revenue report Wednesday, revealing declining profits even though year-over-year revenue increased.
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The company reported generating $23.33 billion in overall first-quarter revenue, increasing 24% compared to the same period in the prior year. Of that total revenue figure, it included $19.96 billion of automotive, $1.53 billion of energy generation and storage and $1.84 billion of services and other revenues. Refinitiv estimates had put Tesla’s first-quarter revenue lower, at $23.21 billion.
For net income, Tesla said it fell 24% from $3.32 billion in 2022’s Q1, coming in at $2.51 billion.
Diluted earnings-per-share (EPS), meanwhile, met Refinitiv expectations. Tesla saw diluted EPS of $0.85, marking a 21% plunge year-over-year.
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The company’s operating margin was 11.4%. It has experienced a 779 basis-point drop year-over-year from the first quarter of 2021, when it was 19.2%.
CEO Elon Musk has said his company will continue to prioritize sales growth ahead of profit in a weak economy.
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Musk’s personal wealth took a $12.6 billion hit this week, according to Bloomberg, as Tesla shares fell 9.8% following the weak earnings report, closing at $162.99 on Thursday. The billionaire also faced setbacks in his other companies, as SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded shortly after liftoff in its test flight, and several formerly blue-checked users complained after Twitter ended its legacy verification program.
Fox Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.
