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Tesla (TSLA) Posts Q4 Loss of 87c/Share; Delivered 17,478 Vehicles, Within Expected Range

February 10, 2016 4:16 PM EST

(Updated - February 10, 2016 4:20 PM EST)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.87), $0.95 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.08. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.75 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion.

EPS includes 13 cents/share on FX revaluation

We delivered 17,478 vehicles in Q4, including 206 Model X vehicles. Tesla directly leased 881 cars to customers in Q4, about the same percentage as last quarter and worth $85 million of aggregate transaction value. As expected, Model S average transaction price declined by about 2% due to vehicle and option mix. Price increases outside the U.S. offset the impact of unfavorable movements in foreign currencies during the quarter.

NOTE: Tesla said in its last quarterly letter: In Q4, we plan to build 15,000 to 17,000 vehicles, and deliver 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles, which will result in 50,000 to 52,000 total deliveries for the year.

Guidance:

We expect to generate positive net cash flow and achieve non-GAAP profitability for the full-year 2016. Thus our cash balance at the end of 2016 should increase from the year end 2015 level. We plan to fund about $1.5 billion in capital expenditures without accessing any outside capital other than our existing sources that support our leasing and finished goods inventory. We plan to invest in equipment to support cell production at the Gigafactory, begin installation of Model 3 vehicle production machinery, open about 80 retail locations and service centers, and energize about 300 new Supercharger locations.

To achieve these goals we plan to deliver 80,000 to 90,000 new Model S and Model X vehicles in 2016, representing accelerating growth over 2015 at the midpoint of the range. (The Street was looking for 76,200 vehicle deliveries.) We expect our average vehicle transaction price to increase slightly during 2016, as Model X grows to become a larger share of our deliveries throughout the year. In Q1, we plan to grow deliveries 60% year on year to approximately 16,000 vehicles, and we plan to directly lease about the same percentage of cars as we did in Q4.

Throughout the rest of 2016, Automotive gross margin should continue to increase, helped by cost reductions for Model S and improving margin on Model X as our manufacturing efficiency improves for that vehicle.

By year-end, Model S gross margin should begin to approach 30% and Model X gross margin should be about 25%, with continued improvement for Model X in 2017.

Q1 operating expenses should increase just slightly from Q4 as we sharpen our focus on expense management. Then as development work continues on Model 3 and as we expand to support growth, operating expenses should increase throughout 2016, so that for the full year total operating expenses should increase by about 20%. Achieving these results in 2016 should leave us well positioned for 2017, when we plan to launch Model 3 and take another significant step towards our mission of accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable transportation.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Tesla (TSLA) click here.



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