Tesla’s Bitcoin Bet Pays Off As Company’s Revenue Rises North Of $10B
Foremost electric car company Tesla Inc. has announced its Q1 earnings for 2021.
Apart from the revenue gained by the sale of its electric sedans, the US auto company said that Bitcoin played a role in their impressive first quarter.
Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of crypto in early February 2021.
This move had two-fold positives; it first brought the world of cryptocurrencies into public view, and it caused the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to make a new ATH trading over the $50,000 mark.
And if anything is to go by its recent earnings report, the foremost crypto asset is repaying the investment.
Tesla’s Revenue Surges 74%
In a release by the company on Monday, the company’s revenues shot up 74% in Q1 2021. It also said that it had made $438 million in net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis.
The Space X twin said the sales of its regulatory credits climbed to $518 million in the same quarter.
However, its non-GAAP net income surpassed the $1 billion mark, a first for the company.
Tesla’s earnings climbed 14 cents to 93 cents per share, up from 79 cents from last year’s earnings. Its revenue also rose to $10.39 billion from $10.29 billion in Q1 2020.
Bitcoin also had a role to play as it ended up putting $101 million into the pocket of Tesla.
Elon Musk had stated that only 10% of its total stake in BTC was sold to see if the digital asset was more liquid than holding cash on the balance sheet.
No, you do not. I have not sold any of my Bitcoin. Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2021
Tesla’s primary focus is on producing electric sedans, and in this aspect, it continued to impress. According to company statistics, it delivered 184,800 Model 3 and
Model Y cars, exceeding analysts’ expectations of 184,700 and making a new record for the company. However, the company said that no new Model S and Model X sedans were manufactured.
Tesla’s CEO Musk has been a pro-crypto evangelist ever since the beginning of the year.
In a series of tweets from his verified Twitter profile, Musk noted that
Bitcoin is a better store of value than inflation-laden fiat. He has since committed about 8% of the company’s balance sheet to BTC.
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
He also announced that Tesla customers could pay for Tesla’s products and services with Bitcoin.
Tesla Moves Beyond Semiconductor Shortage
Tesla’s impressive numbers are not obtainable across the board in the auto industry.
Since the start of the year, automobile manufacturers have complained about the shortage of semiconductors which is a major component in producing electric vehicles.
Many competitors like Ford Motors and Volkswagen Group have seen their electric vehicle production and rollout drop following this challenge.
However, Tesla has been able to come out tops despite this. In speaking on how they did it, Musk said that they decided to use new microcontrollers while also developing firmware for new chips made by new suppliers.
He also said the company targets more than 50% of its sedan deliveries this year which equals about 750,000 cars this year alone.
In a war of battery-powered car production, Tesla seems to be leading the race.
The electric car mogul is preparing to begin production in its Gigafactories in German and Texas this year. Its Model Y sedans will be produced there.
