The value of the bitcoin holdings of Tesla (TSLA) at the end of the fourth quarter remained unchanged from the end of the previous quarter at $1.26 billion, the electric car maker reported in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.
- Tesla did not buy or sell any bitcoin in the quarter, nor did it record any impairments to the value of its bitcoin holdings as the price of bitcoin was essentially flat from the end of the third quarter to the end of the fourth quarter.
- In the third quarter, Tesla also did not add to or reduce its bitcoin holdings, but was required to report a $51 million impairment to reflect the decline in the price of the cryptocurrency.
- According to accounting rules for digital assets, if the price of an asset falls during a quarter, a company must report an impairment, but if the price increases it is not reported as a gain on the balance sheet.
- Tesla first announced in February it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Later in Q1, the company trimmed its bitcoin position by 10%, a sale that boosted that quarter’s earnings by $272 million. Tesla didn’t buy or sell any bitcoin in the second quarter.
- Overall, Tesla’s adjusted Q4 earnings per share came in at $2.54 versus $2.36 expected, according to FactSet, while revenue came in at $17.7 billion vs. $17.1 billion expected.
- Tesla’s share price initially fell about 4% after the release of the earnings report before recovering. They were most recently up slightly to $939.51.
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