Have reviewed the qtly Tesla presentation and read the technobabbling transcript. My general reaction: nothing has changed.
A thread.
A thread.
Profits and gross margin still dominated by EV credit sales. Still virtually no disclosure on these sales. How they can increase with sales basically flat (and down dramatically ex-China) is a mystery. The associated A/R is sus.
Positive FCF driven by working capital and SBC. The latter, as I have often commented, should not be considered "operating" but rather "financing."
Revenues basically flat, even with a second factory. Will blame it on CV-19, but continues a long-term pattern. The world's first no-growth, hyper-growth stock.
Surprising that GM (net of EV credit sales) wasn't more affected by the reduced capacity utilization and price cuts. Supplier/Panasonic rebates? Games with employee compensation? Hard to believe that these are genuine efficiency improvements.
A/R at all-time record. Still no adequate explanation.
In terms of guidance/questions, Elon was very "the lady doth protest too much, methinks" when he was asked about the strength of demand. All the "mission" bullshit about not wanting to be too profitable was also very sus. The discussion of manufacturing was a farce.
Very curious to see what happens when the market opens. Will we see the usual pattern of fading when people have had a chance to dig into the numbers? Or will the Robinhood imbeciles drive things once they can trade? Do the RH have any more capacity - they were all-in already.
PS. I don't see how the S&P committee could vote to include Tesla on the basis of LTM earnings of negative $681mn once we deduct the EV credit sales of which the CFO says "we don't manage the business with the assumption that regulatory credits will contribute in a significant
way to the future."
But, then, there are a great many things that I clearly don't understand.
But, then, there are a great many things that I clearly don't understand.
