Tesla is on a roll. The electric car specialist has just reported its Q3 2021 financials and it is record levels at both top and bottom lines. That’s record revenue and profit.
Tesla reported US$1.62 billion (RM6.72 billion) in net income for the quarter, the second time it has surpassed the $1 billion mark. The same quarter a year ago, net income was US$331 million (RM1.37 billion). The record results were driven by improved gross margins of 30.5% on its automotive business and 26.6% overall, both of which are the highest in at least the last five quarters.
Total revenue was US$13.76 billion (RM57.11 billion). Of this, US$12.06 billion was automotive revenue, US$806 million was derived from its energy business, which combines solar and energy storage products, and US$894 million in services and other revenue. The latter includes vehicle maintenance and repairs, auto insurance and sales of Tesla-branded merchandise, among other things.
“A variety of challenges, including semiconductor shortages, congestion at ports and rolling blackouts, have been impacting our ability to keep factories running at full speed,” Tesla said, although the company reiterated that it expects to “achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries” over a multi-year horizon.
Tesla disclosed that it produced 237,823 vehicles in Q3 2021, of which 8,941 were the Model S and X. The rest (228,882) were the Model 3 and Y. In that quarter, sales stood at 241,300 units – 9,275 Model S/X and 232,025 Model 3/Y. Despite the chip shortage and unlike other carmakers, Tesla’s sales rose in the third quarter – Q2 deliveries of 201,304 units was the previous record.
Other interesting points in the Q3 2021 shareholder deck include the “shifting to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry globally” for Tesla’s standard range vehicles, from the current lithium-ion battery cells with a nickel cathode in North American cars. Tesla has been using LFP batteries for its EVs in China.
Iron is easier to obtain and cheaper than nickel and cobalt, which makes LFP batteries cheaper to produce. China’s CATL and BYD are LFP battery producers and Tesla already has a relationship with the former.
Elsewhere, Tesla did not commit to production date for the Cybertruck, only saying that the electric truck will be made at some point after Model Y production commences in Austin, Texas where the company is building a new assembly plant. The wedge-shaped electric truck was revealed in late 2019 and was originally meant to go on sale late this year.
Last but not least interesting for those who follow business and investment news, in Q3 2021, Tesla recorded a US$51 million (RM211.69 million) impairment related to its investment in Bitcoin. Tesla boss Elon Musk has been a big backer of cryptocurrencies and mere tweets from the billionaire can heavily influence crypto prices. He has bought Bitcoin and Ether, and has pushed the “joke” Dogecoin to fame.
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Are they really profit from the sales of the car or just keep playing with crypto? Fishy