Musk gradually faded out of Tesla, Inc.？
Source: Wall Street
Imagine Tesla, Inc., who has made a profit for nine months in a row, what would it be like without Musk?
Musk is true to his word, Q3 in 2021, became the first Tesla, Inc. financial reporting meeting without him.
But this has not changed the state of Tesla, Inc. 's strong growth. In the third quarter of 2021, Tesla, Inc. GAAP made an operating profit of $2 billion, achieving an operating margin of 14.6 per cent. GAAP's net profit was $1.6 billion, while non-GAAP net profit (excluding share fees) was $2.1 billion, an all-time high.
Even though he had to pay $190 million to cash in the 2018 CEO equity incentive, Tesla, Inc. set several new records in the third quarter, mainly due to a sharp increase in the number of vehicles delivered and growth in other businesses. In the financial report, Tesla, Inc. pointed out that 14.6% operating profit margin "exceeded the medium-term forecast."
The launch of Tesla, Inc. 's Q3 financial report not only exploded the "short", but also showed the world the profit possibility of new energy vehicles and the ability of sustainable development, but Musk's absence makes outsiders wonder. Tesla, Inc. doesn't need Musk anymore. Or does Musk no longer want to be Tesla, Inc. 's CEO?
Break the record again
Tesla, Inc. established 18 years, has been in a non-profit state, even if the profit is also by virtue of carbon points for the sale of phased profits. But this year, Tesla, Inc. began to get rid of carbon points trading to make a profit by selling electric cars.
Tesla, Inc. 's regulatory credit income was only $872 million in the first half of this year and only $279 million in the third quarter, down 30 per cent from a year earlier. As a result, even after deducting $1.151 billion in regulatory credit in the first three quarters of this year, Tesla, Inc. still made a net profit of $2.047 billion this year.
Such a high net profit comes from the high buying interest rate. Tesla, Inc. Q3 vehicle gross profit margin is as high as 30.5%, which is also the highest in the past five quarters. After deducting integral income, the gross profit margin is still a horrendous 28.8%.
Tesla, Inc. said the above profit level was achieved on the basis of a 6 per cent year-on-year drop in the average selling price in the third quarter. "as it continues to reduce costs and the decline is greater than the average selling price, we have achieved an all-time high operating margin."
This tells all the new car power a fact: building new energy vehicles can also make money, of course, first of all, sales must be high.
Tesla, Inc. 's new car sales reached 56006 in September, up 27% from a month earlier and 394% from a year earlier, breaking the record of more than 40, 000 in August. The number of new cars sold in China reached 52153, with monthly sales rising by more than 300% compared with the same period last year and month-on-month.
Model Y, which achieved domestic delivery at the beginning of the year, is located in China, selling 33033 vehicles a month, even surpassing Harvard H6, which won the 100-month independent SUV championship in China, which has become a key watershed. According to the Q3 financial report, the total delivery volume reached 241300, easily breaking the historical delivery record of 201250 set by Q2 this year, an increase of nearly 20 per cent.
On the one hand, the decline in costs led to a decline in the price of bicycles, and on the other hand, the increase in profits, Tesla, Inc. ushered in an unprecedented moment of business glory.
With the improvement of Q3 financial results, Tesla, Inc. now has more abundant resources in his hands. After deducting capital expenditure, operating cash flow (free cash flow) reached $1.3 billion, net debt and financial lease liabilities decreased by $1.5 billion, and cash and cash equivalents totaled $16.1 billion.
In any way, Tesla, Inc. 's debt ratio is declining and his gross profit margin is rising, so as sales are growing, profits are also rising.
This also gives a hint to the counterparts of new energy vehicles: the key to profitability is sales and cost.
In 18 years, Tesla, Inc. brought not only the products of new energy vehicles, but also a revolution in all aspects of the automobile industry.
Blow up the "short"
On the day the Q3 financial report was announced, Tesla, Inc. 's share price soared 3.26% to close at $894 a share.
Tesla, Inc. 's share price has risen all the way during this period, which makes Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates and big short seller, unhappy. Although he revealed on Monday that he was still shorting Tesla, Inc., he also said: "We are still banging our heads against the brick wall."
Tesla, Inc. 's share price is nearly 120 times next year's expected earnings per share, and it is just a car company. " "the valuation of Tesla, Inc. is more than all the other competitors in the global auto industry combined, which is too risky," says Mr Chanos. "
But looking at Tesla, Inc., whose sales and profits hit a record high, will Chanos think late at night, "Why did I go short Tesla, Inc. in the first place?"
Those who are bearish on Tesla, Inc. are "blown out", and those who are bullish on Tesla, Inc. are "the best part" one after another, Wells Fargo & Co.Analyst Colin Langan maintained Tesla, Inc. 's "shareholding wait-and-see" rating, raising the target price to $860 from $660. John Murphy, an analyst at Bank of America Securities, reiterated Tesla, Inc. 's "neutral" rating and even raised the target price from $900to $1000.
John Murphy said Tesla, Inc. 's third-quarter results were slightly better than expected and the overall performance was robust. Among them, revenue was roughly in line with the bank's expectations, gross profit margin, especially vehicle gross profit margin was stronger than expected, and operating expenses were lower than expected, resulting in higher-than-expected profits.
Most importantly, Tesla, Inc. 's free cash flow was in a very good state this quarter, reaching $1.3 billion, which adds to the credibility of Tesla, Inc. 's claim that he has reached a self-financing status.
No more Musk?
"I tried hard not to be Tesla, Inc. 's CEO, but I had to do it, or it would die." On July 12th of this year, Musk was summoned to court as a defendant in the SolarCity takeover case and said, "I really hate being a boss." I am an engineer. "
Coupled with the fact that there is no Musk in the Q3 financial report, some people can't help but ask whether Tesla, Inc. no longer needs Musk.
From the perspective of financial data, the profit for many consecutive months is due to the growth of sales volume and falling costs, while Tesla, Inc. 's global production capacity and brand layout are already in the stage of improvement. Musk is not needed at this time.
I have to admit that without Musk, there would be no Tesla, Inc. today, but when Tesla, Inc. 's performance is good and stable, does it still need Musk this CEO? No one can answer this question. What one can see is that Musk's stake in Tesla, Inc. is declining, from a high of 22.8 per cent to 17.7 per cent now.
Although Musk's personal wealth growth mainly depends on Tesla, Inc., his energy is not entirely focused on building cars. In addition to Tesla, Inc. 's CEO, Musk is also the founder of aerospace company SpaceX, artificial intelligence company OpenAI, solar power system supplier SolarCity, brain-computer interface company Neuralink and other companies.
From Zip2 to PayPal Holdings Inc, Musk's previous two ventures have sold the results one after another. Although Musk is unlikely to sell Tesla, Inc. in the short term, he focuses on Mars exploration, which seems to be something Musk wants to do more than the mature Tesla, Inc..
What is certain is that Musk will not stay in Tesla, Inc. for the rest of his life. He will gradually extricate himself from Tesla, Inc. 's daily management.
Investors may see more that Mr Musk no longer attends Tesla, Inc. 's earnings meeting. Even, it will be like Apple Inc.Like Jobs after the mobile phone matured, he gradually faded out from Apple Inc and let other professional managers take his place.
At that time, will Tesla, Inc. also be questioned and gradually mediocre?
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