Tesla posts record net income of $438m in Q1

The carmaker reported record net income of $438m for the three months to March, for earnings per share of 93 cents (Refinitiv: 79 cents), on revenues of $10.39bn (consensus: $10.29bn), with the latter up 74% on the year earlier period.

Nevertheless, its shares fell by nearly 3% in after hours trading in New York as investors sifted through its latest financials.

In particular, market reaction centred on the boost to its topline from the sale of $518m of regulatory credits during the period.

That was on top of the $101m booked from sales of bitcoin.

Nevertheless, the manufacturer did report vehicle deliveries of 184,800 Model 3 and Model Y cars, beating expectations and setting a record.

The company added that it had produced none of its higher-end Model S sedans or Model X SUVs for the period ending March. It delivered 2,020 older Model S sedans and Model X SUVs from inventory.

On the earnings call with investors, chief executive officer, Elon Musk, said that the new Model S sedan would be delivered to customers from May 2021, with its eagerly-awaited Model X deliveries set to start in the third quarter of 2021.

Musk attributed the delay in deliveries of its Model S to greater than expected "challenges" encountered in its production.

Total deliveries meanwhile were seen increasing by more than 50% in 2021, implying minimum deliveries of around 750,000 vehicles.

Sales from the company’s energy generation and storage business arm nearly doubled versus the same period of 2020, but energy revenues declined from $787m in the fourth quarter to $595m for the latest three-month stretch.

Musk also said on the call that he wanted to turn every home into a distributed power plant that would generate, store and even deliver energy back into the electricity grid, all using the company’s products.

"This is a prosperous future both for Tesla and for the utilities," he said.

"If this is not done, the utilities will fail to serve their customers. They won’t be able to do it."