Tesla Q4 net loss narrows to $16 million
Fourth quarter revenues were $615 million, up 43 percent from last quarter, while non-GAAP revenues during the period were $761 million, up 26 percent from the third quarter.
The electric-vehicle maker said it earned a $46 million profit based on non-GAAP accounting standards during the fourth quarter. That's compared with a loss of $75 million during the same quarter last year using the non-GAAP measurement.
Tesla said it sold 6,892 cars in the fourth quarter and 22,477 in 2013. Deliveries in Europe made up most of the incremental sales growth, or roughly 1,500 units, in the fourth quarter.
Comparisons to the 2012 fourth quarter are difficult because the automaker had just begun assembling the Model S.
Tesla produced more cars in the fourth quarter than planned, and benefited from lower vehicle costs, primarily through component expense reductions and manufacturing efficiencies.
Jefferies LLC analyst Elaine Kwei estimated Tesla's average sticker price was as high as $108,000 per car in the fourth quarter, and that the company's automotive gross margin reached 25.2 percent.
"The take rate of the P85 model and highly optioned vehicles remains very strong," Kwei said in a report after the company's earnings were released Wednesday.
In the fourth quarter, Tesla also received $13 million in revenue from powertrain-sharing programs with Toyota and Daimler, and $15 million in regulatory credit revenue. The company's fourth quarter results were also bolstered by a $5 million net gain from favorable foreign currency rates.
For the full year, Tesla's net loss narrowed to $74 million from $396 million. Annual revenue soared 387 percent to $2 billion from $413 million.
The company said it expects 2014 deliveries to rise 55 percent or more to over 35,000 worldwide. Model S output is expected to increase from 600 cars a week to about 1,000 cars a week by the end of 2014, the company said. It forecast first-quarter 2014 deliveries of 6,400 vehicles.
Model S output will be constrained by battery cell supplies in the first half of the year, the company added.
Tesla said its owners have amassed more than 200 million cumulative vehicle miles driven, and that 80 percent are using the Model S as their primary vehicle.