Summary of TSLA Earnings Call & Presentation

On January 30, Tesla (TSLA) held their Q4 earnings conference call and presentation. It's no secret that Tesla has weathered some tough challenges in years past and 2018 was no different, the toughest actually, according to Elon Musk. 2018 was also a year of significant successes, also surpassing those of previous years. This conference call touches on both aspects, as well as looking at the challenges and achievements that await in 2019.

The full transcript of this earnings call can be found here on Yahoo Finance, but we've extracted some of the highlights below.

• At the end of 2018, Tesla emerged as the dominant player in the Battery EV US market with an 80% market share.
  
  
• The Model 3 became the best-selling premium vehicle in the US for 2018. Worldwide demand is projected to be between 700,000 to 800,000 a year. Tesla expects to introduce standard range Model 3 ($35K, 220-mile range) in mid-2019.
  
  
• Using the service Say.com, Tesla again fielded crowd-sourced retail investor questions, ranging from poor service experience to production estimates of the Tesla Semi & Model Y.
  
  
• The Model Y has a higher expected sales volume than even the Model 3 (50-100% higher) due to the popularity of the mid-sized SUV worldwide.
  
  
• The Tesla Semi will be deployed initially for Tesla's own internal use & Tesla Pickup truck might be unveiled this summer.
  
  
• There will be a focus on improving service for 2019, especially through service-scheduling in the Tesla app and even automatic, car-detected-and-initiated service.
  
  
• The Shanghai Gigafactory construction is progressing very fast and is expected to produce 10,000 vehicles a week by the end of the year.
  
  
• Tesla achieved GAAP profitability for the second quarter for the first time in the company history. Their cash on hand increased by more than $700 million, ending the year with a total of $3.7 billion. They have enough cash to settle their convertible bond that will mature in March.
  
  
• CFO Deepak Ahuja is retiring (again), but will stay on as consultant for the company.

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