Common-Size Income Statement
Quarterly Data
Tesla Inc., common-size consolidated income statement (quarterly data)
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2024-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31).
The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several notable trends across key financial metrics expressed as percentages of revenues, depicting the company's evolving revenue composition, cost structure, profitability, and expenses over the observed periods.
- Revenue Composition
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Automotive sales consistently represented the largest portion of revenues, starting at approximately 82% in early 2020 and gradually declining to around 67% by early 2025. This downward trend is accompanied by fluctuating contributions from automotive regulatory credits, which appeared from the first quarter of 2021 with percentages generally below 5%, often hovering near 2-3%. Automotive leasing steadily decreased in its revenue share from near 4% in early 2020 to about 2% towards 2025.
Energy generation and storage showed a fluctuating but generally increasing trend from below 5% in early 2020 to over 14% by March 2025, reflecting a growing significance in the company's revenue mix. Services and other revenue segments displayed modest growth over the period, increasing from roughly 9% in early 2020 to approximately 13.5% in 2025.
Overall, total automotive revenues (sum of sales, regulatory credits, and leasing) decreased from nearly 87% of revenues to about 74% by 2025, highlighting a diversification toward energy and services.
- Cost of Revenues
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The automotive sales cost percentage generally matched the decreasing sales contribution to revenue, starting around 62% and falling to about 59-60%. Automotive leasing cost shares decreased as well, roughly paralleling the leasing revenue decline. The energy generation and storage cost percentage showed an increase towards the latter quarters, corresponding with the increase in its revenue share.
Services and other cost ratios fluctuated but tended to increase over time. The aggregate cost of revenues exhibited a slight increasing trend—from approximately 79% early in 2020 to sometimes exceeding 82% in later periods—indicating growing costs relative to revenues.
Despite this, gross profit margins maintained a level around 16-19% in the later years, showing resilience despite rising costs. Gross profit peaked near 29% at the end of 2021 before settling lower in subsequent years.
- Operating Expenses
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Research and development (R&D) expenses showed variability, initially around 5%, then declining near 3-4% in mid-periods before rising again to over 7% by mid-2025, indicating increasing investment in innovation and product development.
Selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses decreased from above 10% to around 4-6% for much of the observed time but reversed to a higher level of 6-7% toward 2025. Operating expenses as a total tended to decrease during 2021-2023 but rose again approaching 14% in the final quarters.
- Profitability
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Income from operations saw significant improvement from under 5% in early 2020 to a peak close to 19% at the end of 2021, suggesting operational efficiencies achieved during growth periods. Subsequently, operating income declined but remained positive, fluctuating mostly between 5% and 10%. There was notable volatility around 2024, including a spike of over 31% in net income plus income taxes benefit suggesting one-off or irregular items.
Interest income showed a steady increase over time, rising from negligible amounts to over 2% by 2025, while interest expense declined notably, reflecting possibly improved financing conditions.
Net income followed the improving trend in operating income, increasing from near zero to peaks around 17-18% in late 2021 and early 2022. Some fluctuations occurred in recent quarters, with net income generally maintaining profitability but with reduced margins compared to the peak periods.
- Additional Observations
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Restructuring and other items showed sporadic effects, occasionally impacting operating expenses positively or negatively, indicating infrequent restructuring activities or other extraordinary adjustments.
Tax provisions varied, sometimes showing unusual benefits or expenses, which contributed to fluctuations in net income figures, particularly noticeable in some quarters of 2023-2024.
Overall, the financial data suggest a strategic shift away from reliance solely on automotive sales towards greater emphasis on energy generation, storage, and services. Costs have increased moderately, while operational profitability remains positive with some volatility associated with external factors or internal restructuring. Investments in R&D have increased again recently, possibly to support new product development or technological advancements.