Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Tesla finally reported its first quarterly profit in two years after the closing bell on Wednesday. The Palo Alto, California-based company posted a profit of $311 million and revenue of $6.8 billion in the third quarter of 2018.
This is the biggest quarterly profit that it has ever reported. During the third-quarter of 2016, the electric-car maker walked away with a profit of $22 million.
Tesla also revealed that it is going to shift some production of its Model 3 sedan to China next year, after struggling to ramp up production of the model in the past few years.
TSLA stock, which has declined more than 7% year to date, ended the regular session on Wednesday with a loss of $5.64, or 1.92% to $288.50. The shares gained $33.54, or 11.53% to $322.04 in extended trading.
TSLA Earnings & Outlook
The company reported net income of $311.5 million, or $1.75 per share, compared with a loss of $619.3 million, or $3.70 per share, in the same period last year.
After stripping out special items, the automaker earned $516.2 million, or $2.90 per share. In the earlier-year period, the company reported a loss of $488.5 million, or $2.92 per share. Analysts had called for a 3Q2018 loss of $0.19 per share according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue came in $6.92 billion flying past the $6.33 billion figure that analysts were expected. Cash reserves jumped to $3 billion from $700 million, thanks to a positive free cash flow of $880 million.
Tesla Executive Comments
“Q3 2018 was a truly historic quarter for Tesla. Model 3 was the best-selling car in the US in terms of revenue and the 5th best-selling car in terms of volume. With average weekly Model 3 production through the quarter (excluding planned shutdowns) of roughly 4,300 units per week, we achieved GAAP net income of $312 million,” read Tesla’s investor letter.
“We also delivered on our internal cost efficiency targets, leading to GAAP Model 3 gross margin of more than 20%, which exceeded our guidance. Finally, our total cash increased by $731 million and we had free cash flow (operating cash flow less capex) of $881 million despite less than 10% of that amount coming from key working capital items (payables, receivables, and inventory).”
Tesla Inc Company Profile
Tesla, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of fully electric vehicles, energy generation and storage systems. It also provides vehicle service centers, supercharger station, and self-driving capability. The firm operates through Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage segments.
The Automotive segment includes the design, development, manufacture and sale of electric vehicles. The Energy Generation and Storage segment includes the design, manufacture, installation, sale, and lease of stationary energy storage products and solar energy systems, and sale of electricity generated by its solar energy systems to customers.
The company was founded by Jeffrey B. Straubel, Elon Reeve Musk, Martin Eberhard, and Marc Tarpenning on July 1, 2003 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. – CNN Money
