Cars and Drivers

How Tesla Did It Again in Q1

Chris Lange

Published: April 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its most recent quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The electric vehicle (EV) giant said that it had $1.24 in earnings per share (EPS) and $5.99 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for a net loss of $0.36 per share and $5.9 billion in revenue. The first quarter from last year had a net loss of $2.90 per share and $4.54 billion in revenue.

In the first quarter, the company reached its highest-ever revenue for a seasonally slower first quarter as total revenue grew 32% year over year. Sequentially, revenue was mainly impacted by lower deliveries, driven primarily by limitations on the ability to deliver vehicles towards the end of the quarter. As expected, the average selling price (ASP) declined further as the product mix continues to shift from Model S and Model X to the more affordable Model 3 and Model Y.

For the quarter, automotive sales increased 38% year over year to $5.13 billion, with a gross margin of 25.5%. Total deliveries came in at 88,496.

Separately, the company reported record storage deployment of 260 MWh, an increase of 14% year over year.

Elon Musk, Chairman, Founder, and CEO, commented:

Despite the expiration of various government incentives at the end of last year, Q1 was pacing to be the strongest quarter of deliveries until our operations were interrupted in March. As a result, we remain confident in growing global production capacity as quickly as possible. We are continuing to significantly invest in our product roadmap, including improvements in technology, as well as localizing production in Shanghai and Berlin.

Shares of Tesla closed Wednesday at $800.51, in a 52-week range of $176.99 to $968.99. The consensus price target is $458.88. Following the announcement, the stock was up 2% at $814.89 in the after-hours trading session.