At the end of March, Tesla announced that they would report a profit for Q1 on both a non-GAAP and a GAAP basis. This drove the market wild. Shares shot through the long-term $40 resistance and as investor anticipation continued, the market hardly looked back at the new support level around $42. Yesterday was the proof. All hopes of Tesla "longs" and fears of Tesla "shorts" are realized. Tesla shares spiked above $72 in after-market trading. Everything is looking up for Tesla now that they have demonstrated they can make money in the electric car business.
Or not, because Tesla's reported results specifically do not show that they are making money making cars. To be sure, these are the best results Tesla has had as a public company, they are delivering a great product; they just aren't making money in the car business quite yet. Let's go through the numbers and then take a look at what actually lies ahead for Tesla.
January through March of this year, Tesla had $562 million of revenue mostly from selling cars, up 83% from the last quarter of 2012 and 1,863% higher than the same quarter last year. Net profit on a non-GAAP basis was $15 million ($0.13 per undiluted share) and on a GAAP basis $11.2 million ($0.10 per undiluted share). These earnings numbers were higher than the analyst consensus and the market clearly was impressed. But on digging into Tesla's reported numbers, not everything is what it seems.
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Sales in Q2 should be lower than in Q1, simply because fewer cars will be sold and a larger proportion of these cars will be lower priced 60kWh cars. ZEV credits will be lower too based on guidance that the price per credit AND the proportion of cars sold in California are likely to go down. Foreign exchange gains seen in Q1 may or may not be there in Q2. Stock based compensation expense will significantly increase due to appreciation of the stock, and no one-time boost in GAAP earnings from warrant cancellations is on the Q2 horizon. Absent some game changing revelation or fundamental departure from Tesla's Q2 guidance, I believe anyone buying Tesla shares for more than $50 will be unhappy when Q2 results get reported at summer's end.