Tesla beats on sales and profits in Q2 amid record deliveries

Tesla delivered better-than-expected profits and margins for its second quarter on the back of record sales of its vehicles.

The electric carmaker's performance was especially noteworthy given the ongoing shortage of semiconductors globally and port congestions.

Nevertheless, in a conference call with analysts, Tesla boss, Elon Musk, cautioned that while the manufacturer was able to find alternate chip suppliers in the latest quarter, it might not be able to repeat that feat in the current quarter - which could crimp output.

"The global chip shortage situation remains quite serious. It does seem like it’s getting better, but it’s hard to predict," he added.

For the quarter, Tesla posted a 98% jump in sales versus a year ago to reach approximately $12.0bn.

Its gross margins in automobiles, including leasing and excluding credits, came in at 25.8%, which was 280 basis points better than what analysts Jefferies had penciled-in.

Auto gross margins had climbed by nearly 10 percentage points since the Model 3 was rolled out, the company's finance chief, Zachary Kirkhorn, explained, because production costs had fallen more rapidly than the company had lowered its prices.

Earnings before interest and taxes meanwhile printed at $1.3bn, which was 60% ahead of analysts' estimates, on an EBIT margin of 11.0% (consensus: 7.2%).

The company's adjusted net earnings per share came in at $1.45 against the $0.97 anticipated.

Tesla also beat on free cash flow, delivering $619m, or roughly twice the amount anticipated by the Street.

By segments, automobile revenues came in at $9.85bn (consensus: $9.5bn), alongside income from credits for zero emission vehicles of $354m, services revenues of $951m and energy sales of $801m.

A total of 201,250 cars were delivered over the three months to June, up from 90,891 in the year ago quarter.

On the outlook, Tesla projected that sales would continue growing by about 50% per annum for several more years although it announced that the launch of its Semi would be delayed.

It also said that its new manufacturing plants in Texas and in Germany were on track to begin production at the end of 2021.

Elon Musk also dropped a small bombshell on analysts, telling them that he would no longer participate in all of the company's earning calls.

As of 1155 BST, shares of Tesla were climbing 2.39% to $673.31.