1 Question Tesla Investors Need to Ask Themselves

Electric-car company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has now produced a profit for seven consecutive quarters. Tesla managed a GAAP net income of $438 million in the first quarter, up from just $16 million one-year prior. It would appear, at least at first glance, that the electric-vehicle (EV) pioneer is on the right track in terms of profitability.

The problem is that these profits aren't really coming from the cars that Tesla sells. The company currently generates hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profit each quarter from the sale of regulatory credits, a side effect of other automakers not making enough zero-emission vehicles to meet regulatory requirements.

Regulatory credit sales totaled $518 million in the first quarter, accounting for all of Tesla's profit and then some. This has been the case in previous quarters, as well. In fact, after backing out regulatory credits from Tesla's net income, the company has been unprofitable for six-straight quarters.

Source Fool.com