New York (AFP)
Tesla surprised Wall Street on Wednesday by announcing it had been profitable in the third quarter, and CEO Elon Musk said he was "fully confident" in the electric vehicle manufacturer's ability to exceed its target of delivering at least 360,000 cars this year.
The California group posted a net profit of $ 143 million, which resulted in adjusted earnings per share, a benchmark in North America, of $ 1.86, while financial analysts expected a loss per share 42 cents.
Share prices soared by more than 20% in e-mail following the end of the session, with investors also welcoming Mr Musk's optimism about the production target.
"Our operating expenses are at their lowest level since the start of Model 3 production," said Tesla. "As a result, we have become profitable again in the third quarter ... This has been possible by reducing our costs substantially," the company said.
Tesla has also been supported by the revenue generated by the new "Smart Summon" feature, which allows you to bring your car to yourself without anyone driving.
"This quarterly performance is a show of strength by Tesla, which shows that demand for its cars remains stable, despite the gradual disappearance of the federal tax credit for clean cars," said Jeremy Acevedo, an expert at Edmunds. com.
Markets were prepared for the worst after the Fremont group (California) announced earlier this month that it had delivered only 97,000 vehicles to its customers, including only 79,600 Model 3, its entry-level vehicle. This was much less than the 99,000 units that analysts sought by Factset anticipated.
This figure complicated Mr. Musk's promise to deliver a total of 360,000 to 400,000 new electric vehicles this year.
- European land for soon -
Tesla's deliveries were 63,000 units in the first quarter and 95,356 cars in the second quarter. Therefore, the group must deliver at least 105,000 units to the fourth to reach the bottom of the promised annual range.
Tesla, which also produces solar panels, suffered losses in the first and second quarters.
The confidence displayed by Musk on Wednesday suggests that the group should be profitable throughout the second half as promised by the leader, which would be a relief for investors worried that the group does not stop spending money. since its creation in 2003, without ever paying its shareholders well.
In addition to the results, Tesla delighted the markets on Wednesday, saying it had done production tests at its Chinese plant. This should enable it to lower its costs and avoid tariffs that affect the demand for its cars in the world's largest car market.
"The mega-factory in Shanghai has been built in 10 months and is ready to produce," said Tesla, who said it was ahead of schedule and planned to start production at the end of the year. only.
This giant plant "was almost 65% cheaper (...) to build than our entire Model 3 production system in the United States," Tesla said, adding that its goals are to continue to increase its volumes. sales and control its costs to be sustainably profitable.
With this in mind, the group plans to start production of the Model Y crossover in the summer of 2020 in all its plants.
The Chinese plant, with an annual production capacity of at least 500,000 cars, is intended to give the Californian group, facing competition from Porsche in particular, direct access to the dynamic market of the Chinese electric car.
Located in Lingang, a manufacturing area of Shanghai, its surface is about 865,000 square meters.
Tesla, which recorded a 7.6% decline to $ 6.30 billion in its quarterly revenue, the first decline in revenues for a decade, has also said to be in the final stretch to announce the country that will house its European factory.
© 2019 AFP