Elon Musk made it into the black for the first time in a full year in 2020 with the electric car manufacturer
US electric car manufacturer Tesla has managed its sixth quarter in a row in the black and closed a full calendar year with profit for the first time. In 2020, Elon Musk's company posted a net profit of $ 721 million (EUR 594 million), as it announced on Wednesday after the US market closed. In the previous year, Tesla had suffered a loss of $ 862 million. Revenues rose in the past year by 28 percent to 31.5 billion dollars.
Despite the first annual profit since the company was founded in 2003, the numbers were not well received by investors. After the trading hours, the share initially reacted with price drops of around four percent. Because Tesla missed expectations in the final quarter. Although Musks group made another profit, this was less than assumed by the market at $ 270 million. Revenues grew year-on-year by a strong 46 percent to $ 10.7 billion, exceeding analysts' forecasts.
Among other things, the fact that Tesla only issued a vague delivery target for the current year caused disillusionment among stockbrokers. The company, which in the past often struggled with the ambitious requirements of CEO Musk, this time refrained from a specific target. Instead, it was simply said that the aim was to exceed the growth rate of 50 percent from last year. That would mean that Tesla is aiming to deliver around 750,000 cars worldwide in 2021. In 2020 there were almost 500,000, with which Tesla set its previous record.
Tesla's profit margin, which is highly regarded on the financial market, has also deteriorated significantly again recently, which dampens hopes for lasting profitability. The group makes a significant part of its income by trading emissions certificates that other car manufacturers need to improve their emissions balance and thus meet legal requirements in California and Europe, for example. Without this income, which was $ 1.6 billion last year and $ 401 million in the final quarter, Tesla would not have made any money.
At a conference call with analysts after the annual report had been presented, CEO Musk went to great lengths to tease out new products and innovations. Tesla’s car plant in Fremont has been expanded to produce fresh versions of the older S and X models, which come with completely new interiors, among other things. The Model S is to be offered in a variant that accelerates from 0 to 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) per hour in just two seconds – faster than any other car in the world, according to Musk. Tesla also wants to build an electric van – but when, it remained unclear.
Despite the last quarter, which from the shareholders' perspective was rather disappointing, 2020 was extremely successful for Tesla overall. On the stock exchange, Musk's company was one of the biggest winners with a price increase of around 700 percent; despite its relatively modest production figures and profits, Tesla is by far the car manufacturer with the world's highest stock market valuation. With its longest profit streak to date and the rise in the renowned US stock index S&P 500, the group, which was still considered a possible bankruptcy candidate around two years ago, reached important milestones.
