Tesla Didn’t Buy or Sell Any Bitcoin for Fourth Straight Quarter in Q2

Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) did not buy or sell any bitcoin for the fourth straight quarter in Q2 2023, the company said in its earnings release on Wednesday after the market close.

The net value of its digital assets at the end of the quarter was $184 million, the same as it's been for the past three quarters. At the end of the second quarter, the price of bitcoin was roughly $30,400, up from about $28,500 at the end of the first quarter. However, current accounting rules don’t allow the valuation of digital assets to be increased when prices rise unless the assets are sold, but they can be reduced when prices decline, even before a sale.

Tesla hasn’t bought or sold any bitcoin since last year’s second quarter, when it sold more than 30,000 bitcoins, or roughly 75% of its holdings, for $936 million. The company initially bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021, with CEO Elon Musk giving a boost to bitcoin prices by also saying Tesla would accept bitcoin as payment for its cars, which Musk eventually backtracked on.

For the second quarter, Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.91, versus the consensus analyst estimate of $0.80, according to FactSet. Revenue of $24.9 billion beat analyst estimates of $24.2 billion.

Shares were up 1% to $288.96 in after-hours trading. Shares are up more than 136% this year.

CORRECTION (July 19 20:28 UTC): A previous version of the story mistakenly stated that Tesla's adjusted Q2 earnings per share were $0.78, instead of $0.91.

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