reality check:
Tesla’s Revenues +2%, Auto Revenue +0.7%. Net Income Plunges 25%. Without “Regulatory Credits,” it Would Have Lost $28 Million. Annual Loss Hits $862 Million. Shares Spike 12%
by Wolf Richter • Jan 29, 2020
Tesla’s profit was all about Tesla’s pollution credits, or “regulatory credits,” as it calls them. These are tax credits that Tesla gets from governments and sells to other companies. There is no cost associated with them; they’re booked as revenues and flow through to profit. Tesla reported this evening that these regulatory credits jumped 40% in Q4 compared to the same period a year earlier, to $133 million.
Despite the surge in regulatory credits, net income fell 25% to $105 million. Without those credits Tesla would have lost $28 million.
For the year 2019, Tesla reported a net loss of $862 million. This includes $594 million in regulatory credits. Without those credits, Tesla would have lost $1.5 billion. Tesla has been producing vast quantities of red ink since it started disclosing its financials in preparation for its IPO in 2010. From 2008 through 2019, Tesla lost money every single year with relentless insistence, and those net losses over those 12 years combined now amount to $6.7 billion:……
Just to point out how crazy this has gotten: This evening – upon the announcement of 2% revenue growth and a 25% plunge in quarterly net income despite $133 million in regulatory credits, and of an annual loss of $862 million – Tesla’s shares spiked nearly 12% to $648.
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/01/29/teslas-revenues-2-auto-revenue-0-7-net-income-plunges-25-without-regulatory-credits-it-would-have-lost-28-million-annual-loss-hits-862-million-shares-spike-12/