Who wants to be a trillionaire? Musk in the race as Tesla profits hit record
Morgan Stanley analysts believe Tesla’s founder and chief executive Elon Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire after the company’s results hit records, the Telegraph reported.
The company’s revenues jumped 57 per cent to $13.7bn, with an operating income of $2bn and a 30 per cent increase in automotive gross margin while its shares more than doubled compared with last year.
“The third quarter of 2021 was a record quarter in many respects. We achieved our best-ever net income, operating profit and gross profit,” the company said in its third quarter results published yesterday.
“Additionally, we reached an operating margin of 14.6 per cent, exceeding our medium-term guidance of ‘operating margin in low-teens’.”
The company also produced approximately 238,000 electric vehicles (EV), delivering around 240,000. “EV demand continues to go through a structural shift,” read the report. “We believe the more vehicles we have on the road, the more Tesla owners are able to spread the word about the benefits of EVs.”
Production ramped up in several of Tesla’s gigafactories, including Freemont and Shanghai. The California 5.3 million square feet plant produced more cars in the last year than in any other, while production in China – which is considered the company’s main export hub – continued to grow.
The results become even more impressive if considering the several challenges the automotive industry has faced, including the global shipping and supply chain crises as well as semiconductor shortages.
“A variety of challenges, including semiconductor shortages, congestion at ports and rolling blackouts, have been impacting our ability to keep factories running at full speed,” said the company.
“We believe our supply chain, engineering and production teams have been dealing with these global challenges with ingenuity, agility and flexibility that is unparalleled in the automotive industry.
According to Victoria Scholar, head of investment at financial services company Interactive Investors, the results have indeed exceeded expectations.
“This is an impressive set of numbers in the context of the ongoing global chip shortage headwind,” she told the BBC.
According to Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jones, Musk’s race towards becoming a billionaire is drawing heavily from the potential growth of Musk’s aerospace and communications corporation Space X.
The analyst said the corporation was “challenging any preconceived notion of what was possible and the time frame possible, in terms of rockets, launch vehicles and supporting infrastructure”, the Telegraph reported.
SpaceX is reportedly becoming more financially attractive than Tesla. According to CNBC, Jones wrote in a note on Tuesday that “the majority of our clients (by survey and client discussions) believe SpaceX could ultimately command a higher valuation and significance than even Tesla.”