Tesla Q3 2021 Earnings Report: Profitable Yet Again

Another profitable quarter in the books.

First customer deliveries of the MIC Tesla Model Y - January 18, 2021

Eric Loveday

By: Eric Loveday

Oct 20, 2021 at 4:41pm ET

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Tesla just released its Q3 2021 earnings report and the numbers are impressive. Tesla again turned a profit, which makes that nine quarters in a row in which Tesla has reported a profit. And once again, Tesla beat expectations, at least on the profit-per-share front.

The main financial details from the Q3 2021 report are as follows:

$ 13.757 billion in revenue
$ 1.86 profit per share (Non-GAAP)

And here's what Tesla was expected to report, according to analysts.

Profit per share: ~ $1.59 to $1.82 per share
Revenue: ~ $14.005 to $14.116 billion

Tesla states:

Total revenue grew 57% YoY in Q3. This was primarily achieved through growth in vehicle deliveries, as well as growth in other parts of the business. At the same time, vehicle ASP declined by 6% YoY as the Model S and Model X mix reduced YoY in Q3 due to product updates and as lower ASP vehicles became a larger percentage of our mix.

Our operating income improved to $2.0B in Q3 compared to the same period last year, resulting in a 14.6% operating margin. This profit level was reached while incurring SBC expense attributable to the 2018 CEO awar of $190M in Q3, primarily driven by a new operational milestone becoming probable.

Operating income increased substantially YoY mainly due to vehicle volume growth and cost reduction. Positive impacts were partially offset by ASP decline, growth in operating expenses, lower regulatory credit revenue, additional supply chain costs, Bitcoin-related impairment of $51M and other items.

Quarter-end cash and cash equivalents decreased to $16.1B in Q3, driven mainly by net debt and finance lease repayments of $1.5B, partially offset by free cash flow of $1.3B.

Our total debt excluding vehicle and energy product financing has fallen to just $2.1B at the end of Q3.

Tesla previously announced that it delivered a record-shattering 241,300 cars in Q3 2021. For Q3 2021, Tesla listed Model 3/Y deliveries at 232,025. Meanwhile, the combined Model S and Model X deliveries hit just 9,275.

Here's some of the additional info from Tesla:

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