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Tesla (TSLA) Posts Strong Q1 Results Amid Lower R&D, SG&A; Stifel Affirms at 'Buy'

May 7, 2015 10:36 AM EDT
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Price: $179.83 --0%

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    23 Buy, 27 Hold, 13 Sell

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Stifel affirms Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA) at Buy with a price target of $400 following the company's Q1 report issued Wednesday night.

Analyst James Albertine noted that Tesla's Q1 loss of $0.36 per share compared with the firm's loss estimate of $0.54 per share. Revenue of $1.10 billion was a touch below Stifel's $1.14 billion expectation. Gross profit increased, while SG&A and R&D expenses both fell.

Albertine also doesn't expect a material number of Powerwall and Power Pack sales in 2015. The analyst noted the following key takeaways from Tesla's Q1 shareholder letter:

  • In 1Q15, TSLA delivered a record 10,045 vehicles, +56% y/y and produced 11,160 vehicles, which is 10% better than guidance.
  • Management reiterated the target of 55k Model S and X deliveries in 2015, representing a +70% y/y increase.
  • TSLA also reiterated its plan for initial Model X deliveries in late 3Q15. This is slightly ahead of our 4Q15 modeled expectation, and we believe in line with consensus.
  • We note customer deposits declined -3.1% sequentially to $249.5 mm in 1Q15 from $257.6 mm in 4Q14.
  • TSLA provided further detail on its 2nd generation Tesla Energy grid battery products announced last week. TSLA is (1) planning to start volume builds in Q3, (2) expects production to begin at Tesla Factory in Fremont, and (3) plans to expand to Gigafactory in 1Q16 and accelerate significantly.

TSLA now expects to start complete battery manufacturing at the Gigafactory in 2016.

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