TSLA Q3 2020 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Tesla, Inc. Q3 2020 Earnings Call
• Date: October 21, 2021 at 9:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Martin Viecha (VP of Investor Relations)
  • Elon Musk (CEO)
  • Zachary Kirkhorn (CFO)
  • RJ Johnson (Head of Energy Business)
  • Carl Peterson (Solar Roof Engineering and Installation)
  • Sherry Breslauer (Host)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Q3 achieved record production and deliveries and record revenue and net income on both GAAP and non-GAAP bases.
• Record free cash flow for the quarter was $1.4B and total cash balance increased to $14.5B.
• Operating cash flow for the quarter was $2.4B, which included a $600M benefit from working capital improvements.
• Financing cash flows were $4.5B and management completed a $5B equity raise in September.
• Capital expenditures in Q3 were $1.0B driven by Model Y activities in Shanghai, Berlin, and Austin.
• Automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits improved from 18.7% to 23.7% in the quarter.

Guidance

• Company reiterated that achieving the original 2020 target of 500,000 deliveries remains a genuine challenge but is still considered possible.
• Expected capital spending for 2021 and 2022 was revised up by $2.0B to $2.5B to support additional in-sourced scope and capacity expansion.
• Management expects stationary storage deployments to approximately double next year versus current year.
• Tesla expects to start vehicle deliveries from Berlin and Austin next year, with factory ramp-up timelines of roughly 12 to 24 months to reach significant capacity.
• Management expects over $1.0B in early convertible paydowns in Q4 primarily associated with 2021 conversions and other conversions.
• Regulatory credits are tracking to more than double year-over-year for the full year.