Tesla posts strong fourth quarter result

Tesla reports US$7.384 billion in revenue and profits of $2.14 per share for the fourth quarter of 2019 – exceeding expectations.

Wall Street predicted revenue of about US$7.047b for the quarter and a gain of $1.62 per share.

Expectations soared after Tesla recorded surprisingly high profits the previous quarter.

Its financial position continues to improve with strong results and an almost US$1b cash position increase, now US$6.3b, Electrek

reports, adding it will follow up on the earnings and conference call.

In a letter to shareholders, Tesla says 2019 was a turning point for the company.

“We demonstrated strong organic demand for Model 3, returned to GAAP profitability in 2H19 and generated $1.1B of free cash flow for the year.

“We achieved strong cash generation through persistent cost control across the business.

“Our pace of execution has also improved significantly, as we have incorporated many learnings from our experience launching Model 3 in the United States.

“As a result, we were able to start Model 3 production in Gigafactory Shanghai in less than 10 months from breaking ground and have already begun the production ramp for Model Y in Fremont (starting January 2020 and ahead of schedule).

“For most of 2019, nearly all orders came from new buyers that did not hold a prior reservation, demonstrating significant reach beyond those who showed early interest.”

Tesla says further cost efficiencies should allow it to reach an industry-leading operating margin.

The company also notes record vehicle deliveries of 112,095 in Q4, along with record Q4 storage deployment of 530MWh and 26% solar quarter-on-quarter growth.