1. TESLA REPORTS FIRST PROFIT EVER
Electric car maker Tesla Motors reported its first-ever quarterly profit, boosting shares more than 20 percent. The automaker reported profits of $11.2 million or 12 cents a share — three times the expected 4 cents a share. Sales of Tesla's $70,000 Model S electric sedans reached 4,900 in the quarter — compared to just 2,650 vehicles in all of 2012. More than one-tenth of Tesla's earnings — $68 million — came from selling California's zero emission credits to other automakers, though Tesla expects that number to decline as the year progresses. [Wired]
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2. CONSULTING FIRM SENDS BOTCHED CHECKS TO FORECLOSURE VICTIMS
After issuing a round of rubber checks just last month, Rust Consulting, the firm responsible for distributing a $3.6 billion settlement between banks and homeowners, has once again sent some 100,000 checks out for the wrong amounts — all too low. Rust released a statement saying it "has corrected the error and plans to mail supplemental checks to affected borrowers" by around May 17. [Wall Street Journal]
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3. FACEBOOK IN TALKS TO BUY WAZE FOR $1 BILLION
Facebook is reportedly in advanced talks to purchase the Israeli crowdsourced traffic and navigation app, Waze, for about $1 billion. Waze uses satellite signals from members' smartphones, then offers real-time traffic info based on that data. The app tripled its users to 45 million in the last year, according to Israeli business daily Calcalist. Officials at Waze have not yet commented. [Reuters]
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4. DEBT-STRAPPED CLAIRE'S FILES FOR IPO
Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management has filed to take Claire's, the debt-laden costume jewelry retailer, public, with hopes of raising $100 million. Apollo acquired Claire's for $3.1 billion in a leveraged buyout in 2007, when the company posted a healthy profit of $189 million. Just six years later, Claire's now has $2.3 billion in debt, and its profit is down to $6.2 million. Nearly half a billion dollars of Claire's debt comes due in 2015. [Wall Street Journal]
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5. SONY REPORTS FIRST ANNUAL PROFIT SINCE 2008
Sony reported its first profits in five years Thursday — ¥43 billion, or $435 million — up from a loss of ¥456.7 billion a year earlier. The company projects that sales will rise 10 percent this year, as it expands smartphone options and plans the release of the PlayStation 4 for the holiday season. "We set out this year with the aim of doing everything we can to get back in the black," Masaru Kato, Sony's chief financial officer, told analysts. "This year, we absolutely intend to make a profit in electronics." [New York Times]
