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This makes you pensive:
The seventh quarterly profit in a row that Tesla boss
Elon Musk
announced today does not really impress investors
Photo: Susan Walsh / dpa
The US electric car manufacturer Tesla posted further strong growth at the beginning of the year and achieved its highest quarterly profit to date. In the three months to the end of March, tech billionaire
Elon Musk
(49)
earned
the bottom line $ 438 million (362 million euros), as it announced on Monday after the US market closed. A year ago the balance sheet had shown only a slight increase of 16 million dollars. The construction of the first European Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin is progressing - but apparently not quite as quickly as hoped.
Tesla made it into the seventh quarter in a row with black numbers in the first quarter.
An important factor, however, was once again trading in emissions certificates, which other car manufacturers need to improve their emissions balance and thus meet legal requirements in California or Europe, for example.
In the first quarter, Tesla turned over $ 518 million, an increase of 46 percent.
Million profit with Bitcoin - and with emission certificates
The balance sheet also benefited from an investment in cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which the company made headlines in February.
Tesla had bought bitcoins for $ 1.5 billion, then sold around $ 300 million and earned a good $ 100 million from it.
The automaker's revenues rose by a total of 74 percent to $ 10.4 billion.
Although the numbers were in line with market expectations, the share fell significantly after the trading hours.
"Higher green certificates, lower taxes and bitcoin sales boosted earnings," said analyst Craig Irwin of Roth Capital Partners.
If you take these factors out of the equation, Tesla clearly missed expectations.
Other experts said the revenue was too close to the $ 10.3 billion forecast for investors.
Jesse Cohen of Investing.com said the proceeds were actually only in line with expectations.
Deliveries doubled, targets confirmed
Tesla delivered 184,877 electric cars in the first quarter - more than double the previous year and a new record in the history of the company founded in 2003.
Demand was particularly high in China, even if Tesla faced complaints from customers here.
Most recently there was even a scandal caused by a protest at the Shanghai auto show, which put Tesla under further pressure.
At the same time, Tesla seems to be suffering less from the current shortage of semiconductors than many other carmakers: Production in the first quarter was roughly at the level of the previous quarter, while other manufacturers struggled with shortages and had to register short-time work.
Despite the criticism in the most important foreign market and increasing competition from established car manufacturers such as Volkswagen or General Motors, who are penetrating the electrical segment, Tesla confirmed its growth targets for the current year.
The company continues to expect global deliveries to increase by around 50 percent.
In 2020, Tesla brought over half a million e-cars to customers.
The construction and start of operation of new car factories in Grünheide near the German capital Berlin and in the US state of Texas should further accelerate growth this year.
Musk could rake in $ 11 billion in salary
Because of the strong business, CEO Musk is now entitled to a windfall of more than eleven billion dollars. With the better than expected profit and turnover, he secured his entitlement to the payment of the fifth and sixth of a total of twelve agreed option tranches. Each tranche gives the CEO the right to purchase 8.4 million Tesla shares at $ 70 each, a discount of more than 90 percent compared to the current price. Musk could cash in the two tranches for nearly six billion dollars. The 49-year-old manager does not have a fixed salary. It is paid exclusively in the form of the agreed options, provided that the requirements are met.
With a market value of more than $ 700 billion, Tesla is the sixth most valuable publicly traded company in the United States. Musk - also CEO of the rocket manufacturer SpaceX - has succeeded in making the car start-up a cult brand. Tesla is not evaluated according to the criteria of the automotive industry, but according to those of large tech companies. Between March 2020 and the end of January 2021, the price of Tesla shares increased tenfold to around $ 900. Most recently, the papers cost $ 738.
In Germany, however, there were recently disagreements at the bureaucratic level, so the final environmental approval for the plant by the state of Brandenburg is still pending.
Tesla's annual report now states that the project is on track to begin production and deliveries in late 2021.
This indicates delays, so far industry circles had always said that the tapes should start in the middle of the year.
A spokesman for Tesla in Germany had stressed to the last that the original schedule was still in place.
Musk defends the assistance system after a fatal accident
After a fatal accident in Texas, Tesla's driver assistance system with the controversial name "Autopilot" hit the headlines again. The exact circumstances are still being determined, but according to the local police, the driver's seat was likely to have been empty when two men with a Tesla hit a tree and were killed. Musk had immediately announced that the "autopilot" had not been activated according to the data available so far. At a conference with investors and analysts, this was confirmed again after the balance sheet had been submitted.
Tesla manager
Lars Moravy
said that the steering wheel was "deformed", which indicates that someone was behind the wheel.
Reports that the driver assistance system was turned on were "completely wrong," said Musk.
The journalists responsible should be ashamed.
Tesla has long been under pressure because of the term "autopilot".
Critics find the name to be an exaggeration that could lead to negligent use.
Tesla even calls the next evolutionary stage of the program "full self-driving" - although according to current criteria it remains just an assistance system.
mg / dpa-afx, Reuters