Börse Express – Tesla announces quarterly profit – disaster for German auto stocks!

October 24, earlier than originally planned, left You're here (WKN: A1CX3T) the cat out of the bag: the company made a profit in the third quarter of 2018 and posted a positive free cash flow (I really write?). And not even close, but very clearly.

Here you will find out what it means for traditional German companies BMW (WKN: 519000), Daimler (WKN: 710000) and Volkswagen (WKN: 766403) means – and why I will stay away from their stock now.

Tesla's figures in detail

First, let's take a closer look at Tesla's quarterly figures, compared to the previous quarter.yearquarterly, as usual):

Source: Tesla Quarterly Update Statement, Own Calculations

As you can see, Tesla has not only surpbaded its previous numbers, but has literally inflated them.

This is mainly due to the fact that this model was the first for which Tesla's mbad market model, model 3, could be produced at a high level: the average weekly production rate was 4,300 vehicles of this type. This was enough to increase the gross margin of Model 3 to more than 20%.

The high gross margin is also due to the fact that Tesla initially was limited to the construction and delivery of the higher priced, higher margin model 3, along with additional options. The base model of $ 35,000 is not yet available, however, and is expected to hit the market in the first half of 2019. The cheap versions of Model 3 may soon put the gross margin under pressure.

However, due to further increases in production and resulting decreasing fixed costs, Tesla should be able to achieve similar gross margins in the future. Thus, all of the company's financing problems should be discarded: with the current quarterly numbers behind, Tesla should find it easier to leverage additional capital from investors if needed. Maybe Tesla can even finance itself in the future.

And where is the problem for German manufacturers?

It's not that Daimler and Co. are not already dealing with enough other problems. And now comes this arrogant California startup and earns money with his cars.

Because we still have to record: while Tesla had delivered more than 80,000 electric cars in the past quarter, Daimler is still waiting for the market launch of the EQC system. Audi (WKN: 675700) The e-tron is delayed due to software issues.

In addition, these cars have the problem that they are neither technically superior nor at an attractive price for the average buyer. So, the EQC and the e-tron are anything but the Tesla killer, but at best competitors.

That Tesla is now also earning money, Daimler & Co. should be sensitive. Because as long as Tesla has worked to the deficit, we could deny the whole story, at least that the activity would not be sustainable. But this objection is now finally removed from the table.

And then?

I do not expect that the profits of Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2018 will be better than those of the last three months. As the average selling price of Model 3 is likely to fall, margins should no longer have upside potential in the short term.

But it does not matter. Because Tesla has finally shown that it can conquer the mbad market with its cars and at the same time make a lot of money. And this puts German manufacturers in front of real problems:

It will still be a few years before BMW, Daimler or Volkswagen have a true mbad market model with a reasonable charging infrastructure. Meanwhile, Tesla can chase the happy German builders. And on the left lane with flashing, flashlight and no safety distance – as you know the cliché of actually BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

Christoph Gössel holds shares in Tesla. Motley Fool owns and recommends Tesla shares. The Motley Fool recommends BMW and Daimler.