Front page layout
Site theme
Sign up or login to join the discussions!
On Wednesday afternoon, Tesla announced that it ended the second quarter of 2020 with a GAAP profit of $104 million. That is now the fourth profitable quarter in a row for the US automaker, which may help the company move to the S&P 500 index. It took home $143 million in 19Q3, $105 million in 19Q4, and $16 million in 20Q1. However, the past 12 months’ profits still don’t offset the company’s $408 million loss in 19Q2.
Tesla ended 202 with positive loose money of $418 million and $8.6 billion in money and money equivalents. Tesla told investors in its presentation that lower operating prices and expansion of regulatory credit profits, as well as the detection of $48 million in bills for its “Total Self-Driving” function, have been the main balance sheet support. This contrasts with end-plant prices due to a strong pandemic, as well as having to pay CEO Elon Musk $101 million for one of his repayment milestones.
The automaker had already released data on its 20Q2 deliveries earlier in July, but to reiterate, it built 6,326 Models S and X, delivering 10,614 of the same. Model 3 and Y production clocked in at 75,946; in total, it delivered 80,277 of these vehicles for the three months in question. Impressively, total deliveries are actually up 3 percent quarter on quarter and only down 5 percent year on year—not bad for the middle of a global pandemic that has cratered new vehicle sales across the globe. In total, the company’s automotive business brought in $3.9 billion for the quarter.
Tesla says that in late June, its plant in Fremont, California, operated at full capacity and that this acceleration happened much faster than with the Model 3. This has not been inconsequendent: fan sites and owner forums reported a scourge of poorly assembled cars and Tesla’s inclusion for the first time in an industry-wide survey on the quality of initial construction showed the automaker in last place.
Tesla says that it is installing new equipment at Fremont that will allow it to build 500,000 Models 3 and Y a year. It says that its second factory in Shanghai will be able to produce Model Y crossovers in 2021 and that construction of its third plant in Germany is underway. However, the investor report makes no mention of a possible new factory in Texas.
Tesla’s garage battery business also had a strong quarter-year moment of the year, with 419 MWh, 61% accumulating more than 20Q1. But the same is not true for its solar operation, which has fallen 23% quarterly. However, it states that the installations of its sunroof “tripled” between 20Q1 and 20T2. Both parts of Tesla’s business contributed $349 million in profits for the quarter.
Tesla will reinvent the truck with the $39900 Cybertruck. The company remains committed to bringing a new sports car to market, as well as the Tesla Semi and Cybertruck. But his spending on studies and progression fell to just $279 million in 202, below $324 million in the last 3 months.
Tesla says it is difficult to predict how the rest of 2020 will turn out. The company is still targeting delivering 500,000 vehicles in 2020, but this would mean getting nearly 321,000 EVs into the hands of customers in the remaining six months of the year. Tesla also says it will exceed its current operating margin of 5 percent. The share price of the world’s most valuable carmaker closed at $1,592 and has risen in after-hours trading.
Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox.