Electric vehicle maker Tesla refused to offload any more bitcoin (BTC) in the second half of 2022, despite selling 75% of its holdings in the second quarter.
In its most recent Q4 earnings report on Jan. 25, Tesla’s financials show it has not bought or sold any of its bitcoins for the second straight quarter. This came despite severe market turmoil in November and December following the collapse of FTX.
The documents show that the company holds $184 million in digital assets as of December 31, 2022, compared to $218 million in the previous quarter due to $34 million in impairments as the price of Bitcoin declined between late September and December last year.
Bitcoin was around $19,500 on September 30, 2022 before falling nearly 15% to $16,600 by December 31.
The EV maker also held onto its bitcoin through the third quarter of 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.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated at the time that the sale was intended to “prove Bitcoin’s liquidity as an alternative to holding cash on a balance sheet.”
However, its Bitcoin holdings or Bitcoin adoption were not discussed in Tesla’s recent conference call on Jan. 25. Based on estimates, Tesla holds around 9,720 BTC.
Related: Trouble brewing for the US: Two-thirds of TradFi expect a recession in 2023
Overall, Tesla posted profit of $5.7 billion on sales of $24.3 billion in the fourth quarter, with gross margin at its lowest level in five quarters. The company reported total earnings of $20.8 million on sales of $81.4 billion for 2022.
In 2022 we produced and delivered more than 1.3 million vehicles
In Q4 we achieved our highest ever quarterly revenue, operating profit and net income → https://t.co/6WkUryAhKO pic.twitter.com/aOzmL76uja
– Tesla (@Tesla) January 25, 2023
The sales figure missed analyst estimates, but earnings fared better than consensus estimates.
Tesla’s stock price rose slightly on the day, closing up nearly 0.40%. It continued to trade positively after close of business, up nearly 4.6% at the time of writing, according to Google Finance data.