Monday, July 29, 2024

Tesla And Regulatory Credits -- Update -- July 29, 2024

Locator: 48259TESLA.

Cornering the market: one of the talking heads mentioned in passing that Ford was complaining that Tesla was cornering the market on EV regulatory credits.

Time to get back to this story: link here, July 24, 2024. One of two under-reported stories for Tesla, carbon credits, regulatory credits, income from other auto manufacturers:

Links, blog only:

*************************
Reuters

Link here.

Buried in that article, perhaps the most important data point of which folks are not paying attention:


Regulatory credits -- income:
  • CY2023: a record, $1.79 billion
  • 2Q24: a record, $890 million; annualized 4 x 0.890 billion = $3.56 billion

Where's that money coming from: Ford, GM, Stellantis, others.

************************
Other Media Links

This whole story reminds me of the business models of car rental companies like Hertz.

Teslarati, February 9, 2024:

Tesla’s 2023 regulatory credits generated an additional $1.79 billion in revenue, according to its 10-K filed last week.

The money Tesla makes due to other carmakers needing assistance to reach emissions standards continues to accumulate, and since 2009, it has made almost $9 billion in revenue because of the system.

Bloomberg reported this morning that Tesla’s $9 billion in revenue due to the sale of regulatory credits has helped the company obtain what is basically pure profit. Former Tesla Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Zachary Kirkhorn, who left the company last year, said the credits would eventually go away as other automakers caught up to emissions standards.

However, that was in 2020. Tesla has brought in over $1.7 billion in credits in both 2022 and 2023, while 2020’s total was $1.58 billion.

Although many large automakers have pledged to transition to EVs, it has been a much more difficult road than initially imagined.

Volkswagen and General Motors are two companies mentioned in the report that have had trouble reaching EV goals and have, in turn, needed help meeting emissions standards.

GlobalFleet, March 27, 2024:

One year after the release of its first electric vehicle (EV), the Roadster, Tesla began selling carbon credits to various automakers. While Tesla enjoyed high profits as the pioneer of all-electric passenger cars, the balance in the carbon credit market is about to change. Tesla is no longer the top all-electric producer, and major automakers are changing their strategy from just buying time to updating their zero-emission strategies.

Selling carbon credits has always been a lucrative business for Tesla. In Q4 2020, according to CNBC, Tesla generated $270 million in net income by selling $401 million in regulatory credits. In Q1 2021, Tesla generated $518 million from selling regulatory credits.

Profits continued to grow. According to Tesla's financial reports, revenue generated from carbon credits was $1.46 billion as of the fiscal year 2021, representing 3% of the brand's total revenue. Revenue peaked in 2023, hitting $1.79 billion, according to the brand's Q4 2023 report. Tesla has generated $9 billion from selling carbon credits to other electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers since 2009.

We shall look at the figures from Q3 2023 to note how profitable selling carbon credits is. That quarter, Tesla generated $554 million from selling carbon credits, representing 29% of the company's net income. Notably, carbon credit revenue jumped 94% in that quarter, year-on-year. 

CarbonCredits, February 13, 2024:

Elon Musk’s Tesla generated a substantial $1.79 billion from carbon credit sales last year, as revealed in their Q4 2023 and annual financial report, bringing its total earnings from such credits since 2009 to nearly $9 billion. This revenue comes from trading regulatory credits to other automakers unable to meet emission regulations in the US, Europe, and China. 

Tesla continues to profit from the need of its rivals to meet emissions standards. It is a lucrative business that was initially expected to diminish. Since the EV giant incurs minimal additional costs to earn these credits, the sales represent almost pure profit.

Ticker: Tesla has become a stock for traders, not necessarily investors:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.