Tesla's Earnings in Q2 2021 compared to Ford & GM

 

Tesla's recent earnings results in Q2 2021 show that it has been profitable for quite some time now. The data from the earnings results have some interesting insights, when compared to the two big North American auto OEMs - GM and Ford. 

Quarterly revenues

Ford and GM still make about four times more revenue each, than Tesla. This is, of course, expected, since Ford and GM have significantly more volumes. However, it is interesting to note that Tesla is much more profitable than Ford. Here is the operating profit of each of these OEMs.

Gross Income/Operating Profit

Ford, in particular has been swinging between operating losses and profits of approximately $2 billion per quarter. Tesla, on the other hand has steadily growing it's operating profit from razor-thin, to about $1.2 billion in the last quarter. GM made an operating loss of approximately $1.2 billion in Q2 2020, but has recovered since then. Tesla, at $1.3 billion gross profit is now close to GM and Ford's Q1 operating profits. This is despite making about four times lesser revenues. 

A similar picture emerges when we compare the net profit of the three OEMs.

Net Income

The only surprise here is Ford made a net profit in Q2 2020, when it made an operating loss of more than $2 billion. The reason for this a $3.5 billion "other income" resulting from their investment in Argo AI. So it is interesting that Ford loses money on it's automotive business, but makes money in it's investment business! Tesla, on the other hand, as very little "other income" reported. They in-fact, lost money on their bitcoin holdings. 

Ford and GM are yet to report their 2021 Q2 earnings, but it is clear that Tesla has entered the "big league". It is heartening to see that the EV startups are finally being more profitable than gasoline/ICE OEMs. 

UPDATE: Ford released their quarterly earnings today. It is interesting to note that their revenues are down by 26% (Q-on-Q) and they made only $533 million net profit. This is exactly 45% of Tesla's Q2 2021 profit of $1.178 billion. In other words, Ford made less than half the profit that Tesla made this quarter!