Tesla still in the black: More cars delivered, smaller profit than last quarter

Enlarge / This picture taken on March 17, 2015, shows Tesla Model S vehicles parked outside a car dealership in Shanghai. (credit: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, Tesla released its fourth-quarter financial letter for 2018, and the results were pretty much as expected: the company is in the black for the second quarter in a row, albeit with a smaller profit than last quarter, despite record deliveries of vehicles. The company recorded revenues of more than $6 billion and costs of revenues at more than $5.7 billion. After operating costs, the company posted $210 million in net income, with $139 million of that attributable to shareholders.

The fourth quarter of 2018 was an important one for Tesla’s automotive business, because it capped off a year of aggressive Model 3 production ramping just before the company’s Federal Tax Credit was retired on January 1, 2019.

Tesla has had debt on a number of convertible bonds come due in recent months, and it’s preparing for a massive, $920 million bill to come due March 1. But the car maker says that it can comfortably pay back these debts with its cash on hand. The company said it paid back a $210 million convertible bond in Q4 2018. In its shareholder letter (PDF), Tesla stated “We have sufficient cash on hand to comfortably settle in cash our convertible bond that will mature in March 2019.”