Tesla posts 13th straight loss, says on track for H2 deliveries

For the quarter, Tesla reported a loss of $293 million, a 59 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago, on revenue of $1.3 billion, up 32 percent from last year. The company delivered around 14,400 vehicles from April through June, including almost 9,800 Model S sedans and more than 4,600 Model X crossovers.

During an earnings conference call on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk was asked about Tesla’s timeline for fully autonomous vehicles.

Tesla Motors Inc. reassured investors it can ship roughly 50,000 cars in this year’s second half and 500,000 in 2018, easing the sting of a second-quarter loss that was wider than analysts estimated. Towards the end of Q1, the company stated that it expected to increase production by 30% in the second quarter, implying a production level of over 20,000 units. Tesla reported non-GAAP revenue of $1.56 billion, up 33% from the year-earlier quarter but missing the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.62 billion.

Musk, who controls a 20 percent stake in each company, said Tesla has been trudging along, pushing hard to meet delivery deadlines and production starting points.

The company’s share price was down 0.62 per cent at the time of writing in after-hours trading, to $225.79. According to the company, some 5,150 vehicles were still in transit towards the end of the quarter and will be delivered in Q3.

But the company said it was on track to hit second-half production targets. Revenues of $1.56 billion also came in short of expectations for $1.62 billion. The company directly leased 1,132 cars to customers in the second quarter worth $117 million in aggregate value. Musk, who made progress Monday on his “Top Secret Masterplan” for Tesla when the auto company reached a deal to buy another Musk family business, SolarCity, in an all-stock, $2.6 billion deal, still has more tricks up his sleeve. Model 3 is billed as Tesla’s first mass-market electric vehicle, with an expected sale price of only $35,000, less than half that of its Model S.

Devonshire Research Group, a technology investment firm, warned earlier this year that Tesla, because of the exotic tools it uses to hide its financial stability, is “operationally vulnerable to setbacks”. One of the significant updates was the timeline for the two new vehicles that were announced in the Master Plan, Part Deux: “Tesla Semi” and ‘Tesla Minibus’.

Musk, SolarCity’s chairman and biggest shareholder, has said synergies from the combined company will help save at least $US150 million a year and require only a “small equity capital raise” next year. No matter what it is, Tesla cars are headturners, aren’t they?

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“Unfortunately or fortunately, Tesla can’t sneeze without there being a national headline”, Musk said on the call.