Tesla, for the third quarter of 2021, posted record profit and revenue. Revenue from the electric-car maker’s core business rose 26.6%, but its investments in bitcoin during the period depreciated by $51 million.
During the quarter the company posted net income of $1.62 billion. The figure for the same period last year was $331 million.
Revenue reached $13.76 billion ($11.9 billion a year earlier). It surpassed Refinitiv’s forecast, which had projected $13.63 billion. Earnings per share also beat expectations — $1.86 per share vs $1.59 expected.
The electric-car maker invested in bitcoin $1.5 billion in February, with an average purchase price of $34,963. Later Elon Musk called the decision ‘quite risky’.
In April Tesla sold part of its digital gold assets for $272 million. The gains from asset operations were estimated at $101 million. The company’s CEO said at the time that the deal was a test of market liquidity.
In the second quarter the company wrote off $23 million due to the cryptocurrency’s negative performance on its balance sheet.
Losses from the depreciation of the asset were reflected in the third-quarter report under ‘restructuring and others’ in the operating expenses category. The value of the cryptocurrency on the balance sheet was $1.26 billion, down from $1.31 billion in Q2.
Under U.S. accounting rules for digital assets, depreciation within a quarter requires the entity to report losses. If the price of the cryptocurrency rises, this is not reflected as a gain on the balance sheet.
In October the price of digital gold rose by nearly 50% — bitcoin hit a historic high above $67,000. At the time of writing the asset trades near $65,900.
According to the Bitcoin Treasuries service, Tesla owns 43,200 BTC — at current rates their value exceeds $2.8 billion.
Musk noted the positive market momentum in his characteristic manner, posting a meme about cryptocurrencies on Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2021
In July the billionaire said SpaceX, the space company he owns, invested in bitcoin. He also said he personally owns digital gold, Ethereum and Dogecoin.
TSLA Q3 2021 Quarterly Update by ForkLog on Scribd
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