Tesla Posts Its First Back-To-Back Profit Ever

Achieving profitability has been easier said than done for Tesla, which has burned cash like anything for the past few years. The company has taken concrete steps over the past year to achieve sustainable profitability and the efforts may just be paying off. The company has posted its first back-to-back profits ever after it ended in the green in Q4 2018.

It’s a commendable achievement because this is the first time in the company’s 15 year history that it has had consecutive profitable quarters. The company made $7.2 billion in revenue this past quarter and made a $139 million profit.

Its total revenue for the year was $21.4 billion but it did post a $1 billion loss for the entire year. The company has still not achieved its goal of posting a full year profit. It’s making progress though, when you consider that it lost $2 billion in the previous year.

Tesla is now aiming to deliver up to 400,000 cars this year which would register an increase of more than 60 percent year-over-year. The company is relying on its mass-market electric car, the Model 3, to help it achieve sustainable profitability. A few challenges remain, though. Tesla is yet to start production of the cheapest $35,000 iteration of the Model 3 while demand for higher-priced variants of the car seems to be peaking in the United States.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: Tesla