Analyzing Tesla Liquidity With Only 3 Ratios

Tesla Model 3 interior. Flickr Image.

Tesla’s liquidity is often a hot topic among not only investors but also vehicle owners.

Tesla could become bankrupt and go out of business when the company is no longer able to sustain its operations because of liquidity issues.

Even if Tesla does not go under in the worst scenario, it may get acquired or bought up by other companies at a low price, leaving investors with losses and vehicle owners with a product that has nowhere to go.

Therefore, liquidity often gets scrutinized by investors to determine the financial position of a company.

In this article, we will take a look at some of Tesla’s liquidity ratios, including those that evaluate the company’s short-term liquidity.

The most crucial liquidity ratios are as follow:

These ratios measure Tesla’s short-term liquidity – its ability to fulfill its commitments when they come due within a year.

If Tesla failed to meet these short-term commitments, it will be in a deep hole.

Without further ado, let’s check them out!

Current Ratio, Working Capital and Acid Test Ratio (Quick Ratio)

Investors are often interested in the current assets and current liabilities when evaluating the short-term liquidity of a company.

Particularly, investors look at the current ratio, working capital and acid test ratio which measure the short-term financial health of a company.

The current ratio is determined by dividing the current assets with the current liabilities and it’s a useful measure of the ability of a company to cover all the commitments that come due within a year.

Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities

Similarly, the working capital can be determined by subtracting the current liabilities from the current asset to arrive at a figure that measures how much short-term assets are left after accounting for all of the short-term liabilities.

Basically, working capital is the net current assets of a company.

For example, we can find out from the working capital ratio how much is left in current assets after all current liabilities are paid off.

Working capital = Current assets – Current liabilities

Lastly, the acid test ratio or quick ratio is similar to the current ratio except that it is a more refined calculation where non-liquid assets such as the inventory and prepaid expenses are excluded in the asset part of the equation.

The ratio indicates a company’s immediate ability to repay all current liabilities with current assets which are cash or near cash forms.

Acid test ratio (quick ratio) = Current asset (only liquid assets) / Current liabilities

For Tesla, its current assets are mostly made up of cash and inventory.

On the other hand, its current liabilities are mostly made up of accounts payable, accrued liabilities and the current portion of long-term debt and capital leases.

Tesla’s Current Ratio

Tesla’s current ratio

The chart above shows Tesla’s quarterly current ratio, calculated using the above equation, for the period from 2015 to 2022.

The trend of the plot shows that the current ratio has decreased since 2015 and reached a new low in early 2018 at 0.73X.

The current ratio has somewhat remained flat throughout 2018 at an average ratio of 0.80X.

The deteriorating liquidity in 2018 was not a coincidence but a result of Tesla’s aggressive ramp-up of the Model 3 production and delivery during this period.

The company was using a lot of cash during the Model 3 ramp-up which explains the low liquidity ratio in 2018.

However, the ratio started to improve in 2018 and continued to tick higher steadily and reached a new high at 1.88X in 4Q 2020, signaling improving liquidity for Tesla.

The improvement in liquidity ratio also has been attributed to the expanding cash flow, driven mainly by Tesla’s record number of delivery of Model 3 between fiscal 2018 and 2022.

The expanding cash flow has injected tonnes of cash and cash equivalents into Tesla’s coffers.

A quick investigation into Tesla’s 1Q 2022 balance sheets revealed that the company has amassed a cash balance valuing at $18 billion, roughly 27% higher compared to the prior quarter.

The surge in cash and cash equivalents has resulted in a current ratio reaching nearly 2.0X for Tesla.

A current ratio above 1.0X indicates that Tesla has sufficient current assets to cover the respective current liabilities that will be due in the next 12 months.

As of fiscal 2022 1Q, Tesla’s current ratio measures at 1.35X, illustrating sufficient liquid assets to pay for all coming debts.

In short, Tesla’s improved liquidity is attributed mainly to cash generated from sales of Model 3/Y and the addition of cash and cash equivalents to its balance sheets.

Tesla’s Adjusted Current Ratio

Tesla’s adjusted current ratio

The chart above shows Tesla’s quarterly adjusted current ratio between 2015 and 2022.

The adjustment is made at the current liabilities because not all current liabilities are created equal.

For example, some of the current liabilities such as the deferred revenue, customer deposits and resale value guarantees do not affect Tesla’s immediate liquidity as cash has already been received upfront for these liabilities.

Besides, these liabilities may not necessarily result in future cash payments.

Here is what Tesla has said about the resale value guarantee in its annual filing dated Dec 31, 2018:

Vehicles deliveries with resale value guarantee do not impact our near-term cash flows and liquidity, since we received the full amount of cash for the vehicle sale price at delivery.

Here is another quote from Tesla’s annual filings dated Dec 31 2018 regarding resale value guarantee:

To date, we have only had an insignificant number of customers who exercised their resale value guarantees and returned their vehicles to us. Based on current market demand for our vehicles, we estimate the market prices of our vehicles will continue to be above our resale value guarantee amounts.

For the reason mentioned above, these liabilities were excluded from the adjusted current ratio to reflect Tesla’s realistic liquidity.

All told, the adjusted current ratio shows Tesla’s improved liquidity compared to the non-adjusted ratio.

The improvement is expected as the current liabilities have been reduced in the adjusted ratio.

As of 2022 1Q, Tesla’s adjusted current ratio measures at 1.55X, slightly higher than the non-adjusted ratio.

In reality, Tesla’s liquidity is much better than you would normally expect.

As mentioned, the expanding current ratio has been partly attributed to Tesla’s record numbers of Model 3/Y deliveries all these years.

The record deliveries have injected tonnes of cash into Tesla’s balance sheets and hence, the improving liquidity.

Tesla’s Working Capital

Tesla’s working capital

Tesla’s working capital shows a similar uptrend since fiscal 2020.

Accordingly, Tesla’s working capital turned positive when the current ratio is above 1.0X and vice versa.

You may notice that Tesla’s working capital was the lowest in fiscal 2018 when all quarterly numbers turned negative, with some quarters even reaching as low as -$2 billion.

As discussed, the negative working capital in 2018 was not a surprise but a result of the consumption of huge working capital during the initial stage of Tesla’s Model 3 ramp-up.

However, Tesla’s working capital turned positive in 2019 and reached a record high at more than $12.5 billion in Q4 2020 driven by Tesla’s record number of Model 3/Y deliveries that generated tonnes of cash for the company.

As of fiscal 1Q 2022, Tesla’s working capital measures $7.6 billion, still a massive amount of capital despite being significantly lower than its prior highs.

The improved working capital has been a result of several factors, including Tesla’s positive cash flow and capital raise between fiscal 2018 and 2022.

Whatever the reason is, improving liquidity bodes well for the company’s financial well-being.

Tesla’s Adjusted Working Capital

Tesla’s adjusted working capital

On an adjusted basis, Tesla’s working capital improved tremendously, reaching as much as $10.3 billion in 2022 1Q.

Similar to the adjusted current ratio, the adjustment for working capital is done at the current liabilities portion to reflect Tesla’s realistic liabilities.

Again, the surging adjusted working capital from fiscal 2019 to 2022 has been a result of Tesla’s positive cash flow and capital injection.

For your information, Tesla’s cash and cash equivalents totaled more than $18 billion as of Q1 2022, pushing the adjusted working capital to its highest level during the same quarter.

Tesla Acid Test Ratio (Quick Ratio)

Tesla’s quick ratio

The chart above shows Tesla’s acid test ratio or quick ratio for the period from fiscal 2015 to 2022.

As briefly mentioned at the start of the article, the acid test ratio is calculated by excluding certain non-liquid assets, including the inventory and prepaid expenses in the current asset portion of the formula.

By excluding these non-liquid current assets, the acid test ratio is now made up of only liquid assets such as cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable.

Moreover, restricted cash was also removed to stress test Tesla’s liquidity.

On the liabilities side, we do not adjust any current liabilities portion when measuring the acid test or quick ratio.

We are stress-testing Tesla’s liquidity to see how it performs when only highly liquid assets are pitted against the entire short-term liabilities.

According to the chart, Tesla used to have a quick ratio or acid test ratio below 1.0X, indicating that the company’s liquid assets alone such as cash and cash equivalents were insufficient to cover its entire short-term liabilities.

The worst occurred in fiscal 2018 when Tesla’s quick ratio dipped below 0.5X, driven primarily by huge spending and cash outflow in the same fiscal year.

However, Tesla’s liquidity slowly improved in fiscal 2019 compared to the prior year as seen in the higher quick ratio.

Despite the significant improvement, Tesla’s quick ratio was still below 1.0X in fiscal 2019, highlighting the insufficient liquid assets coverage for short-term liabilities.

Moving forward, Tesla’s liquidity continued to soar and for the 1st time in 2020 3Q, Tesla’s quick ratio reached 1.22X, indicating that the company’s highly liquid assets alone were able to pay for the entire short-term liabilities.

As of 1Q 2022, Tesla’s quick ratio continued to tread at the 1.0X threshold and measured at 0.95X, driven primarily by the massive amount of cash and cash equivalents in the balance sheets.

For the 1st time, Tesla has nearly sufficient cash and cash equivalents that can pay for the entire short-term liabilities that will come due in the next 12 months.

All in all, Tesla has managed to turn its business around from being cash-strapped to a cash cow since fiscal 2020.

Conclusion

To recap, we looked at the current ratio, working capital and acid test ratio (also referred to quick ratio) when we analyzed Tesla’s short-term liquidity.

Some current liabilities have been adjusted to exclude certain items as they may not have an immediate impact on the cash flow.

For example, cash has been received upfront for the deferred revenue liability. As such, it can be adjusted to account for Tesla’s realistic liquidity.

From the results of the adjusted ratios, Tesla’s liquidity has improved tremendously and is considered to be at a safe level as of 1Q 2022.

During the stress testing as measured by the quick ratio, Tesla’s cash and cash equivalents alone are sufficient to pay for the entire short-term liabilities that come due within the next 12 months.

In short, Tesla has no immediate solvency problem as of now.

References And Credits

1. Financial data in this article was obtained and referenced from Tesla’s financial statements available in Tesla Quarterly and Annual Results.

2. Ratios came from the author’s own calculation.

3. Featured images in this article are used under creative commons license and sourced from the following websites: Thomas Hawk and Steve Jurvetson.

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Disclosure

The content in this article is for informational purposes only and is neither a recommendation nor a piece of financial advice to purchase a stock.

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