[bryanlarsen]

Tesla had a 24% gross margin in Q1. They made a massive amount of money selling cars. They also had a massive amount of R&D and capital expenditures. The emissions credits required R&D and capital expenditures in prior years so you can't say that the R&D and capital expenditures should only be charged against vehicle sales and not emissions credits.

[carlivar]

Agreed, but you CAN say that the business of selling cars is a long term endeavor and the regulatory credits are transient. Invest accordingly.

[bryanlarsen]

Tesla's Q1 also included a massive number of transient expenses (like Musk's stock options) that were significantly larger than transient income like emission credits.