Tesla Motor's Growth and the Bottom Line

Tesla’s meteoric growth in the automotive space has pushed it passed Ford to have the second highest market value.In February 2016 Tesla Motors stock was valued at $151 per share by the summer of 2017 the imminent release of the Model 3 drove the company’s stock prices up to $383 per share.

Demand for the newly available Tesla 3 has been overwhelming. Some are calling this demand, “a clear indication that American consumers care
about climate change and cutting air pollution.” Whether or not they are buying the green angle they are lining up to buy Tesla’s cars.

Tesla Motors delivered a staggering 25,000 vehicles to customers in the first quarter of 2017 and 22,000 in the second quarter. By 2018 Tesla is scheduled to be producing more than a half-million cars a year.

Tesla’s founder and owner Elon Musk is a sustainability titan and the Model 3 is proof of his strategic genius. When Tesla announced that it turned a profit of $22 million in the last quarter of 2016 some suggested that this is indicative of changing consumer demand in the auto sector. These people juxtaposed Tesla’s earnings with EIA statistics that showed the US oil industry lost $67 billion in 2016.

Tesla Motors earned a record setting $2.7 billion in Q1 2017. Although sales were up by almost two thirds in the first quarter of this year the company still lost money. Second quarter earnings are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 2nd although more losses are expected. As pointed out by Johana Bhuiyan in a Recode article, “Tesla is still taking losses as it continues to establish itself in the market.

Detractors are quick to point out that Tesla Motors has lost $2.3 billion in the past five years. While they like to malign the company’s balance sheet the fact remains that Tesla has done extremely well.

In addition to extraordinary returns for investors, Tesla has sold
hundreds of thousands of emissions free vehicles and provided hundreds
of thousands of good paying jobs. However, the fact remains that to be
viable over the long term the company must be profitable.

Their fortunes are expected to go into overdrive now that they have started production of the Model 3. Musk is also banking on Tesla’s unique semi-autonomous driving technology that gives drivers the power to summon their cars with the click of a button.

In a remarkably short period of time Tesla has become one of the biggest automotive
brands in the US and they are poised to lead the global EV space.