Bitcoin holdings remain intact and significant spending is on AI

Electric car maker Tesla made no changes to its large Bitcoin portfolio, for the fifth straight quarter, although it allocated more money to double its computing capacity amid artificial intelligence efforts.

Tesla’s 2023 third-quarter results, released on October 18, show that as of September 30, the company had $184 million in digital assets, part of the $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin it first purchased in March of 2021.

The latest quarterly results mean that Tesla has not bought or sold any bitcoin since it sold about 75% of its holdings in the second quarter of 2022, when it made $936 million for more than 30,000 bitcoins.

Tesla, on the other hand, said it has “doubled the size” of its computing capacity for AI projects, citing its growing training data set and a shift in training its Optimus robot on AI rather than coded software.

“We have commissioned one of the world’s largest supercomputers to accelerate the pace of our AI development, with computing power more than doubling compared to the second quarter,” the statement said.

Tesla reported that its third-quarter revenue and profits fell short of Wall Street estimates, with revenue totaling $23.35 billion. Although this represents a 9% increase compared to the same period last year, it is not up to par appreciation $24.38 billion from Zacks Investment Research.

It also missed expected earnings, with earnings per share (EPS) coming in at $0.66 compared to the Zacks’ EPS Estimate of $0.72.

Total operating expenses for the third quarter amounted to $2.41 billion, recording an increase of more than 13% compared to the previous quarter and an increase of more than 42.5% compared to the previous year.

Tesla’s R&D expenses were $1.16 billion in the quarter, an increase of 58% from last year. She attributed these increases to “Cybertruck, AI, and other research and development projects.”

Tesla shares fell about 4.8% on the day, closing at $242.68, and fell an additional 4.25% in after-hours trading to $232.37 according to data from Google financing.

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