Really good news on the electric vehicle side

We know things have been gloomy with the recent halt of production at Fisker Karma, so we are so glad to see Tesla ride to the rescue with a great earnings report.   We'd be thrilled to see them start leasing cars in the second half of the year:

Tesla Hits Record on First Quarterly Profit: San Francisco Mover

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Tesla Motors Inc., the electric-car maker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, climbed to a record after saying it turned its first quarterly profit on higher-than- forecast sales of its controversial Model S sedan.

Tesla rose 16 percent to $43.93 at the close in New York. The stock has gained 30 percent this year, topping the 9.5 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Tesla’s previous closing high was $39.48 on Feb. 7.

Tesla’s profitability is a milestone for a company that has been at the center of debate over the future of electric cars. The Palo Alto, California-based company sold more Model S sedans than it had previously projected, as Musk, 41, led the defense against a New York Times story in February that questioned the car’s driving range.

“For Tesla to be in the black is a positive sign, and it’s a little bit surprising given the lukewarm reception we’ve seen with a lot of the other electric vehicles in the marketplace today,” Alec Gutierrez, an analyst with auto-market researcher Kelley Blue Book, said by telephone.

Tesla sold at least 250 more Model S sedans than the 4,500 units it had forecast in February. As a result, the company reached “full profitability” during the first quarter, according to a Tesla statement yesterday that didn’t specify the profit figure.

The average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg calls for a loss of 11 cents a share, excluding some items. Tesla hasn’t previously reported a quarterly profit in its three years as a public company.

Reduced Risk

“The progress on sales and profitability significantly reduces risk around TSLA’s cash flows, which have been a primary area of investor concern,” Elaine Kwei, an analyst at Jefferies Group, wrote today in a report. “We expect a high level of media attention over the next several days and correspondingly higher levels of activity in the stock,” wrote Kwei, who has a buy rating on the stock.

Tesla’s Model S has been at the center of disputes over the viability of electric cars that intensified following a Feb. 8 story in the New York Times. The article detailed a test drive between Washington and Boston that ended with a stalled Model S being loaded onto a tow truck.

Musk called the Times’ report “fake” and told Bloomberg Television that it trimmed Tesla’s stock-market value by as much as $100 million. The public editor for the newspaper said its reporter didn’t use good judgment and “left himself open to valid criticism...”