Elon Musk’s Tesla finally stayed profitable for a full year, the first time since its public listing in 2010.
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Tesla reported a net income of $270 million in 2020’s final quarter, helping Elon Musk’s electric vehicle powerhouse notch its first profitable year. As usual, sales of pollution credits helped keep the company in the black.
The Palo Alto, California-based company said it had earnings per share of 24 cents on a GAAP basis for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2020, and 64 cents for the year. Full-year net income was $721 million. Quarterly revenue, led by sales of the company’s Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles, was $10.7 billion and the annual tally was a best-ever $31.5 billion.
The results were solid but slightly below expectations, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “Pro-forma EPS was $0.80 vs. the Street estimate $1.02, although going forward the core profitability picture continues to improve at an accelerated rate which…