--> TSLA +12.6% in After hours - (1,390,181 shares traded @ 217.7906)...
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.33 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.21; non-GAAP rev (including deferred rev from lease accounting) rose 148.5% year/year to $761.3 mln vs the $673.14 mln consensus -- GAAP rev was $615 mln; Q4 deliveries 6892 -- co raised guidance to almost 6900 from slightly under 6000 on January 14.
Guidance:
"We expect to deliver over 35,000 Model S vehicles in 2014" vs. expectations of ~29K, representing a 55+% increase over 2013. Production is expected to increase from 600 cars/week presently to about 1,000 cars/week by end of the year as we expand our factory capacity and address supplier bottlenecks. Battery cell supply will continue to constrain our production in the first half of the year, but will improve significantly in the second half of 2014.
First quarter production is expected to be about 7,400 vehicles, which is significantly higher than the prior quarter production of 6,587 cars. However, as the number of cars in transit to Europe and Asia must grow substantially to support those markets, we plan to deliver ~6,400 vehicles in Q1. Deliveries will grow dramatically in future quarters as the logistics pipeline fills.
This year, we expect automotive gross margin to increase to about 28% (non-GAAP and GAAP) in Q4 through a series of small design improvements, better supplier prices and economies of scale. Q1 gross margin should increase very slightly from Q4. For the remainder of the year, gross margin should improve at a faster pace. Operating expenses and capital expenditures will increase significantly in 2014, as we plan to invest in the long term growth of Tesla. We plan to expand production capacity for Model S and Model X, invest in our store, service and Supercharger infrastructure, complete the development of Model X and start early design work on our third generation car. In Q1, operating expenses are expected to grow roughly 15%. R&D expenses will increase as design and engineering work accelerates on Model X.
We expect to have production design Model X prototypes on the road by end of year and begin volume deliveries to customers in the spring of 2015.
Conf Call Details :
- Seeing strong demand for Model X, despite no advertising; seems likely co will be unable to supply demand in China this year
Management said licensing for selling in China is not a problem, it is more local manufacturing. The company does not expect to need a local partner in China.
- Elon Musk provides color on media coverage of fires - initially saw a 'significant' drop in demand, but sales recovered after facts came out
Musk said sales have steadily improved since customers have realized that it was more of a media driven story and that Tesla cars are safe.
- Elon Musk says he thinks Model X demand will exceed Model S demand Musk also said it seems likely that the company would continue to see demand of 1000 units per week for the Model S.
-Co is working on solutions for charging in China (193.64 -10.06)
A call participant asked how the company planned to address the issue of charging in China where owners are potentially more likely to live in apartment buildings as opposed to houses. Musk would not elaborate on the issue but said that the company plans to talk more about it in the coming months