Cars and Drivers

Tesla Hits Another Home Run

Tesla Model S
Source: Courtesy of Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported second quarter 2013 earnings after markets closed today. For the quarter, the electric car maker posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20 on revenues of $405.14 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported an adjusted EPS loss of $0.89 on revenues of $39.38 million. Second-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for an EPS loss of $0.17 and $383.4 million in revenues.

On a GAAP basis, the carmaker lost $0.23 per share, compared with a year-ago quarterly loss of $1.00. The significant one-time items included in the GAAP loss were $0.15 a share in stock based compensation and $0.13 for early extinguishment of the company’s $440 debt to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The carmaker boosted production by a quarter, from 400 to 500 vehicles a week and delivered 5,150 vehicles in the quarter, well above the company’s estimate of 4,500.

In its letter to shareholders Tesla said that European deliveries of its Model S sedan began this week with the first cars arriving in Norway, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Tesla opened 7 new retail locations during the quarter and now claims 41 locations worldwide, with 30 in North America, 8 in Europe, and 3 in Asia.

In its outlook, Tesla said it expects to ship about 21,000 Model S sedans in 2013, with more than 5,000 units shipped in the third quarter quarter. The company has more than doubled its quarterly vehicle shipments in the first half of this year.

Gross margin is expected to be in the low 20% range for the third quarter and the company said it continues to expect margins to rise to 25% by the end of this year without the aid of revenues from its sale of zero-emission credits. The company also noted that it expects to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis for the rest of this year and to generate a positive cash flow without the benefit of the zero-emission credits.

Tesla’s shares are up nearly 15% in after-hours trading, at $153.89, above the stock’s 52-week range of $26.86 to $145.73. The consensus target price for the shares was around $42.10 before today’s report.

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