How Tesla Proved Critics Wrong
After stellar Q3 reports, Elon Musk’s critics are left grasping at straws
People have said pretty much everything about Tesla. Some said the company was selling its vehicles at a loss and would never be able to make those vehicles under the right conditions, or fast enough. Others said Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, was crazy and would lead the company to ruin. In early 2018, one car industry veteran even called on collectors to buy the Model S “before the company goes belly up.”
But then Tesla’s numbers started to look more promising. In its 2018 Q3 report, Tesla boosted its share price and gave the NASDAQ its best day in months. The company had also fulfilled its production and distribution objectives during Q3, showing every sign of staying in the black (at least until it had to pay interest on loans during the first quarter of 2019).
The Q3 earnings report doesn’t seem to be an exception, either: Q4 was also profitable and everything indicates that Tesla has found a stable way to generate profits. What’s more, Tesla is no longer an industry quirk: Many people have laughed at its production difficulties (while grossly underestimating the achievement of moving from a standing start to mass producing 80,000 vehicles per quarter). But the company is now outselling Porsche, Mercedes Benz, and…
