From bitcoin to emissions credits, here’s how Tesla got creative to turn its biggest profit ever

From bitcoin to emissions credits, here’s how Tesla got creative to turn its biggest profit ever

Tesla reported hefty earnings for the first three months of 2021 on Monday, beating Wall Street estimates and turning its largest-ever profit. 

The company posted a net income of $438 million on revenues of $10.4 billion, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of profitability following years in the red. 

But the electric-car maker didn't make all that money selling electric cars. Clever maneuvers involving bitcoin and sales of emissions credits buoyed the company's bottom line. 

Tesla made $101 million “” the equivalent of nearly a quarter of its profits “” by selling a 10% stake from its bitcoin holdings in late March, CFO Zach Kirkhorn said. Since the carmaker first revealed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February, the cryptocurrency has continued to climb to unprecedented heights and is up about 60% since Tesla's first disclosure. 

According to Kirkhorn, the cryptocurrency is proving to be an ideal way for Tesla to store excess cash "that's not immediately being used for daily operations or maybe not needed till the end of the year and be able to get some return on that."

Read more: Mercedes' new EQS is one of the fanciest EVs ever “” and execs say it's the groundwork for Merc's EV strategy

Tesla