Cars and Drivers

Lower Annual Production Target Hits Tesla Stock

tesla flag
courtesy of Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported second-quarter 2015 earnings after markets closed on Wednesday. The electric car maker posted an adjusted diluted loss per share loss of $0.48 on adjusted revenues of $1.2 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.11 on revenues of $857.51 million. Second-quarter results also compare to the consensus estimates for a per share loss of $0.60 and $1.17 billion in revenues.

On a GAAP basis, the carmaker lost $1.45 per basic share. GAAP revenue totaled $955 million. Adjusted revenue includes $242 million in deferred Model S gross profit due to lease accounting.

The carmaker built 12,807 vehicles in the quarter, slightly more than its guidance of 12,500. Tesla delivered 11,532 Model S vehicles in the quarter, slightly above its announced target level of 11,507. The company directly leased 631 cars to customers in the first quarter worth $63 million in aggregate value.

Tesla says it plans to build just over 12,000 vehicles in the third quarter, including “a small number of Model X deliveries.” The full-year target for deliveries has softened somewhat, from a previously announced 55,000 units to a new range of 50,000 to 55,000 units. Deliveries are forecast at approximately the same number as second quarter delivers.

Looking ahead to next year, Tesla said it is highly confident of a steady state production and demand of 1,600 to 1,800 vehicles per week combined for Model S and Model X. That represents an increase of around 45% in production for 2016.

The selling price of the Model S declined in the second quarter and Tesla expects the price to decline by more than 1% in the third quarter as deliveries shift to the lower priced models of the vehicle.

Non-GAAP gross margin of 23.9% was about 100 basis points below guidance, primarily due to higher manufacturing and parts costs related to the ramping of the company’s small drive unit line and deferred revenue recognition for certain features that were delayed from the second quarter until later in the year.

Shares are traded down about 3% at $261.87 in Wednesday’s after-hours session. The stock’s 52-week range is $181.40 to $291.42. The consensus price target for the shares was around $287.90 before today’s report with the highest target set at $400.00.

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