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Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

reuters.com

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Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#231

Post by lmm »

kakarot wrote: post #220
vsl wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they keep doing it, and if you pay close attention to Tesla, you’re aware of it. You’re also aware of rumors of AP2 coming. If you don’t follow Tesla news, you’re in for a surprise. Regardless, I think it’s a fair critique: buyer’s remorse is a real thing with Tesla. It’s one thing to buy a $3000 computer from Apple and have it replaced with a much better one the next week, it’s another to buy a $100K car and ha…

At the end of the day however, it is not Tesla's responsibility nor in their best interest to educate their customers to make intelligent purchasing decisions. If you want change in this regard, it's not going to come from Tesla.

Well if BMW communicate upcoming changes much better than Tesla do, maybe I'll buy BMW instead. Shrug.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#232

Post by lmm »

patrickk wrote: post #26
shasheene wrote: post #19

The Economist recently did a good article on the financing of Elon Musk's companies that flew under the radar of Hacker News that probably warranted further discussion [1] [2]. (Though the author of that piece completely misses the relative importance of each company to Musk, suggesting "he could try to sell [...] SpaceX, through gritted teeth, to a defence firm") It's unfortunate there's a bit of a reality distortio…

> Maybe because everyone wants his companies to succeed... Surely the only ones who don't want dramatically cheaper space launches, cheaper, widely available solar PV installations and attractive, affordable electric vehicles are deeply entrenched incumbents whose continued profitability involves polluting the planet, or those who really hate the environment for whatever reason. There are valid criticisms you can lev…

> taking on the Wall Street quarter to quarter thinking with enormous, risky endeavours that have the potential to completely revolutionise some of the biggest industries out there (energy and transport) takes an extreme type of individual to succeed.

Does it? It makes for a good narrative, but are the burnout-inducing hours and unusall funding sources actually making them more likely to succeed than a company taking a more conventional approach would be, or less?

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#233

Post by MarkMc »

ams6110 wrote: post #96
patrickk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe because everyone wants his companies to succeed... Surely the only ones who don't want dramatically cheaper space launches, cheaper, widely available solar PV installations and attractive, affordable electric vehicles are deeply entrenched incumbents whose continued profitability involves polluting the planet, or those who really hate the environment for whatever reason. There are valid criticisms you can lev…

I don't have anything against Musk. I simply don't care much one way or the other because the things he's working on will never affect me. Electric cars are not something I'm interested in owning at the price Tesla is asking. Or even half what Tesla is asking. Utility electricity works fine for me, is a small fraction of my monthly budget, and is reliable. I.e. something I never really worry about. Payments for and m…

> the things he's working on will never affect me.

Perhaps not in next 5 years, but what about 20 years? Do you expect that electric cars will never be cheaper than petrol cars? Do you expect to never ride in an autonomous vehicle?

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#234

Post by jacquesm »

sambe wrote: post #211
jacquesm wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compare with Toyota's annual production of approximately 9 million vehicles for some perspective.

Why does this comparison keep coming up? Relative growth and absolute count is not the same. Neither is the company in the same phase. Neither is there demand for 9MM Teslas per year.

> Relative growth and absolute count is not the same.

That's exactly why it keeps coming up. It's easy to grow 50% when you're making a relatively small number of items, it's another thing entirely when you're much larger. So for Tesla to post these growth figures is meaningless without taking the actual numbers of cars shipped into account.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#235

Post by lmm »

TillE wrote: post #81
greglindahl wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, in the UK paperback books have a little contract in the front saying you can't rebind them into hardbacks, while in the US such a contract is forbidden by the right of first sale. The moral is that these things are less obvious than one would think.

The UK certainly has some weird laws, but that sounds...of dubious validity. Like roughly the equivalent of "not for individual resale"; a contractual matter between the supplier and the merchant, not something that could even theoretically be enforced on any buyer.

UK copyright law is old and unusually strict. E.g. crown copyright can be perpetual.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#236

Post by [deleted] »

vsl wrote: post #216
will_hughes wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no notice from BMW, the sales guy, or the press Tesla has done this for a long while. Newer larger battery pack options, newer interior and tech package options, and completely new performance and configuration options (insane, dual motor, and autopilot 1.0 all hit at once) While there wern't announcements ahead of time what was coming, there were often advance notice that there was an announcement coming, and even…

Yes, they keep doing it, and if you pay close attention to Tesla, you’re aware of it. You’re also aware of rumors of AP2 coming. If you don’t follow Tesla news, you’re in for a surprise. Regardless, I think it’s a fair critique: buyer’s remorse is a real thing with Tesla. It’s one thing to buy a $3000 computer from Apple and have it replaced with a much better one the next week, it’s another to buy a $100K car and ha…

[deleted]

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#237

Post by WillAbides »

nodesocket wrote: post #189
mitchellh wrote: post #23

Really great news! But something that shouldn't be overlooked is the discounts they gave in Q3 to push deliveries up. First, those that know me know that I am a Tesla FANATIC. My girlfriend once challenged me to not talk about Tesla (motors, energy, something) for a 24 hour period. I dunno if I've ever done that honestly. I'm also an owner (no surprise given my fanaticism, lucky to be able to afford one). And I also…

Nice writeup. I do think this quarter is a bit misleading because of the 139million emission credit. Howerver, I believe they've done just enough to move the needle and support investor confidence. By the way, huge fan of HashiCorp Mitchell. ;-)

I didn't notice that was Mitchell. Makes sense. The one time I met him in person we talked about Tesla.

Now I need to track down Elon Musk to discuss Consul.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#238

Post by annerajb »

coredog64 wrote: post #185
NotSammyHagar wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point to note the ZEV credits. The first time they showed a profit that was part of it. But those credits keep on coming, they aren't necessarily a one time thing. Other car companies that don't produce electric cars in abundance or at all will have to keep buying them until they do.

FCA had to be strong armed into building the 500e. Ford hasn't previously taken the electric Focus seriously, but word is that the 2017 model will be range competitive with the current Leaf. I believe I have read elsewhere that although GM will sell the Bolt in all 50 states, early inventory will be going to states with ZEV mandates. With all that, I could see a future in which those ZEV credits aren't nearly so valu…

LG Chem the supplier for the GM Bolt battery said they expect more than 35k this sounds to me like the car is going to be aggressively prioritized in ZEV states.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#239

Post by lallysingh »

kakarot wrote: post #220
vsl wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they keep doing it, and if you pay close attention to Tesla, you’re aware of it. You’re also aware of rumors of AP2 coming. If you don’t follow Tesla news, you’re in for a surprise. Regardless, I think it’s a fair critique: buyer’s remorse is a real thing with Tesla. It’s one thing to buy a $3000 computer from Apple and have it replaced with a much better one the next week, it’s another to buy a $100K car and ha…

At the end of the day however, it is not Tesla's responsibility nor in their best interest to educate their customers to make intelligent purchasing decisions. If you want change in this regard, it's not going to come from Tesla.

It can lead to buyer hesitance, which is a problem. Why buy now when the car can suddenly become better? Without any understanding of when it would get better, or how much, the fear of the regret can be substantial.

Re: Tesla reports first quarterly profit in more than three years

#240

Post by forgetsusername »

njharman wrote: post #172
ams6110 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have anything against Musk. I simply don't care much one way or the other because the things he's working on will never affect me. Electric cars are not something I'm interested in owning at the price Tesla is asking. Or even half what Tesla is asking. Utility electricity works fine for me, is a small fraction of my monthly budget, and is reliable. I.e. something I never really worry about. Payments for and m…

Pollution affects everyone. Terrorist attacks and the multiple wars fought affect most people, certainly everyone in the West. Only a self centered ignoramus thinks reducing need for oil doesn't help them.

>Terrorist attacks and the multiple wars fought affect most people, certainly everyone in the West.

The West? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the people in the Middle East (you know, where the bombs are actually being dropped*) are "certainly" affected.

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