Tesla Reports Record Revenues And Record Losses In Fourth Quarter

Tesla Motors Inc. set a record for deliveries in the fourth quarter as customers ignored sagging oil prices and bought the Model S sedan, the maker of all-electric luxury cars said Wednesday as it reported a net loss of $320 million, up from $108 million a year earlier.

In the first earnings report since the fall launch of the Model X crossover, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla reported $1.2 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, according to generally accepted accounting principles. That represented a 30 percent increase over the third quarter and a 27 percent increase year-over-year.

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TheSteve - 2/11/2016 11:37:00 AM

+1 Boost

Yup. After the market's close last night, Tesla reported greater losses than analysts expected. This is not a 1-time lost. They've never been profitable. And one of the analysts biggest concerns is that Tesla has not presented any plan to ever become profitable!

And yet, in aftermarket trading, Tesla stock shot up 12%, on no other news. At this time, it's still up by more than 7%. There are still "believers" out there.

BTW, this kinds of weirdness happens with Blackberry stock, too. Both companies are bleeding red ink, and have been for years. Both have not presented a viable plan to become profitable. Both have CEOs who have made "we expect to be profitable, real soon now" statements that have not panned out. Both have their fiercely loyal customers. Both have optimistic, or perhaps incredibly hopeful investors.

While Tesla is certainly not identical to Blackberry, they do share some stark similarities.

rockreid - 2/11/2016 12:56:35 PM

+2 Boost

Tesla shares more in common with Amazon than BB. Amazon is barely profitable, and wasn't for 15 years or so. But Amazon is accumulating Cash Flow quarter after quarter, market share, and owns a tremendously growing amount of warehouse space and other properties. It seem the current model is to generate cash flow right now and profitability is no longer the short term goal. Eventually, Tesla's growing cash flow and properties (Gigafactory) can be leveraged into more profits as it has been stated that Tesla's long goal is to become an energy company, not a simple car company. Remember that Tesla's Home Battery packs keep selling out as soon as they are available. You might be seeing the Tesla brand name on a lot of future energy products.

mre30 - 2/11/2016 1:23:48 PM

0 Boost

Here's for a crazy idea - maybe Tesla should purchase the whole of FCA to get some much needed world-wide scale and some automaking expertise. He’d also get all that Jeep cash to fund his EV fantasy without more pesky outside investors.

In a crazy way, Telsa's needs and FCA's needs sort of complement each other.Musk and his team could quickly cancel PCA's crummiest products and gut the Dodge/SRT/Chrysler lineup in the US to cut costs and allow the Jeep brand to kick off even more cash, which can then be used to fund his EV endeavors.

He'll get some (a few?) experienced auto execs as part of the deal, he’ll get a repair network to support the inevitable repairs to his Tesla fleet, and all those people and resources who could help him scale up Tesla.

Tesla would basically be like a big tick, sucking the blood and life out of PCA to enable Tesla to survive, restructure and maybe even prosper. Once Tesla is thriving and prospering, he can kill off all the parts he doesn’t want and sell Jeep to Hyundai.

PUGPROUD - 2/11/2016 2:48:55 PM

+1 Boost

The automobile business is brutal, eats cash and fiercely competitive. If Chinese don't buy Tesla before majors solidify their EV brands it will be in big financial trouble. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Lexus and Jaguar are gunning for you...good luck.