Tesla surprised the market last week with an unexpected profit for the third quarter, but a filing to the SEC on Tuesday showed that the electric vehicle (EV) maker saw its sales revenues on its biggest market, the United States, plunged by nearly 40 percent in Q3.
According to Tesla's filing, the company's revenues in the United States fell to US$3.127 billion for the third quarter, down from US$5.133 billion for the same period last year. Revenues in China-where the company is building its first Gigafactory outside the U.S. aiming to grow sales significantly-rose to US$669 million from US$409 million.
Tesla's revenues in Norway and the Netherlands, two other key markets for the EV manufacturer, also rose in Q3 2019 compared to Q3 2018. Revenues in all other markets jumped to US$1.827 billion from US$784 million, suggesting that Tesla is betting big on a global expansion of its offerings.
Earlier this month, Tesla said that it had achieved a record number of around 97,000 deliveries globally in Q3. The figure, while a record, came short of an unofficial target that Elon Musk had set to deliver 100,000 electric cars in the quarter. With just a day left until Q3 ends, Tesla was said to be "a few thousand" vehicles behind that 100,000 vehicle delivery target.
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Despite the record delivery Q3 quarter for Tesla worldwide, registrations in the U.S. sharply dropped in August and September, in what analysts attributed to the halving of tax credits for Tesla purchases as of July.
According to Philippe Houchois, managing director of automotive equity research at Jefferies, Tesla's lower registrations in August and September in the U.S. are not surprising at all, given that federal income tax credits available to anyone who purchases a new Tesla Model S, Model X, or Model 3 dropped to US$1,875 effective July 1, 2019, from the US$3,750 tax credit until June 30.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
After diving into the 10-Q, Roth Capital lowers Tesla to a Sell rating from Neutral and assigns a price target of $249 to the EV stock. The firm says Tesla's 10-Q indicates that the gross margin gain in Q3 was driven by one-time items such as warranty adjustments. The Seeking Alpha community beat Roth to the punch on that one.