What happened
The Great Tesla (TSLA -1.06%) Stock Acceleration of 2023 continued on Tuesday, with the bellwether electric vehicle (EV) maker's share price zooming nearly 4% higher. And that was on a generally fine day for the market overall during which the S&P 500 index notched a 1.5% gain. The generally positive sentiment that has blanketed Tesla lately was helped by the announcement of a strategic adjustment by the company.
So what
Less than a week after reporting its latest set of quarterly earnings, Tesla filed its 10-K annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Among the many items for investors to digest was a discussion on capital expenditures (capex).
Tesla anticipates it will devote $6 billion to $8 billion on capex in 2023, then rise to $7 billion to $9 billion in each of the two following years. In 2022, capex totaled just under $7.2 billion.
Much of the 2023 spend -- around $3.6 billion -- will be devoted to the expansion of the company's sprawling "gigafactory" complex in Nevada. Funds will also be channeled into raising output at similar company facilities in Germany and Texas.
Tesla said its capex plans center on the growth of its manufacturing capacity. The next phase of this, added the EV leader, will depend not only on the state of production in the German and Texas facilities but also on "our ability to add to our available sources of battery cell supply by manufacturing our own cells that we are developing to have high-volume output, lower capital and production costs and longer range."
Now what
In addition to the new battery cells, Tesla aims to ramp up production of the Semi, its first heavy truck. Both products have solid potential, although the niche heavy truck segment is somewhat limited compared to the broad consumer vehicle market.
