Liz Gannes

Recent Posts by Liz Gannes

First Profit + Top Score From Consumer Reports = Tesla Stock Surge

Shares of Tesla jumped this morning, driven by yesterday’s earnings and today’s glowing review from Consumer Reports.

tesla_model_sThe electric-auto maker’s stock is at $66.81, or up about 20 percent, after opening up even higher.

Yesterday, Tesla posted its first quarterly profit: $11 million on revenue of $562 million. That was earnings per share of 12 cents, when analysts had expected 4 cents per share.

Today, Consumer Reports gave the car a 99 out of 100 rating, equalling its highest score ever.

The trusted reviewer wrote:

“There, we said it. The Tesla Model S outscores every other car in our test Ratings. It does so even though it’s an electric car. In fact, it does so because it is electric …

“So is the Tesla Model S the best car ever? We wrestled with that question long and hard. It comes close. And if your needs are confined to the Tesla’s driving range, it just may be.”

Tesla is also heading in the right direction to hit promised margins by the end of the year. Yesterday’s earnings showed total gross margins of 17 percent, up from 8 percent. The company said it was aiming for 25 percent by the end of the year.

However, the company recently reformulated a promised resale guarantee for its Model S car that had used some funny math.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will be speaking at our D11 conference later this month.

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— Valleywag editor Sam Biddle