The latest good news from Tesla, via sister site Gas2:
Tesla Motors has been operating for about 10 years without turning a profit, out of the sheer determination from its founder Elon Musk. But finally, Tesla has earned its first quarterly profit ever, and going forward the outlook for Tesla looks bright.
Tesla managed to make a profit of $15 million on sales of $562 million in the first quarter of 2013, delivering an estimated 4,900 Model S units to customers. Tesla also earned $63 million by selling zero-emissions credits to automakers in California, and going forward the electric auto maker could earn as much as $250 million from selling environmental credits. Tesla is apparently on pace to meet their target of 20,000 vehicle sales in 2013, and it receives up to $35,000 of environmental credits for each Tesla Model S electric car it sells.
These ZEV credits can be sold to automakers in California, whether or not they sell zero emissions vehicles, to help these automakers meet California’s strict environmental laws. This helped offset the some $200 million in company investments Tesla is expected to make in the next year, opening new stores and installing supercharger stations. These investments will go down over time, leading to even higher profit margins.
This profit helped bolster Tesla Motors stock, which briefly jumped to over $70 before settling around $55. Tesla stock has been growing stronger, and the fact that the company has finally made a profit is sure to make investors happy.
Elon Musk has defied the odds, and made money with a pure electric car. There are even brighter days ahead.
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