Tesla Motors Inc on Friday disclosed $1.1 billion in third quarter cash requirements in payments and planned expenditures, about a third of the cash on hand mid-year, in a new sign of pressure on the electric vehicle maker.
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Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out phase two of his Master Plan, revealing several new types of vehicles in the company’s pipeline. This is down to the fact that Tesla did have difficulty with production of the wing doors, while buyers also had issues to.
In the latest earnings call, Tesla performed far lower than the expectations as its losses jumped to $293 million at $1.06 per share. Wednesday reported a second-quarter loss that widened from a year ago, hurt largely by higher operating costs which offset an increase in revenues.
Teslas shares rose less than 1 percent to $227.50 in after-hours trading.
In the second quarter Tesla completed the design work on its Model 3 sedan and intends to start production before the end of the year. With 50,000 in the plan for the second half of the year and almost 29,000 delivered in the first half, the company may actually meet its goal.
The company plans to produce 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018 – or ten times the amount of yearly vehicles it now makes.
“The most critical numbers in Tesla’s Q2 report, revenue and profit, came in worse than expected, though that will have minimal impact on the stock’s value”, said Karl Brauer, a senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.
Musk sketched out an ambitious plan last month to venture into manufacturing electric trucks and buses, as well as expanding the company’s solar energy business.
Musk also said the government already had information on how Autopilot worked, so he didn’t know why the investigation was opened.
The company also said that production and demand are on track to support deliveries of approximately 50,000 new Model S and Model X vehicles in the second half of the year. Analysts pegged the company for a 52 cents-per-share loss. As a result, Tesla is doing its best to ramp up progress on the vehicle, with a view to double Model 3 production targets to 100,000 in 2017, and 400,000 in 2018.
Edmunds says: Tesla moves ever closer to the launch of the Model 3 and hints that it may be a major presence in US shopping malls.
On the subject of the Model 3, Musk danced around questions about the backlog of orders it has amassed and whether that has shrunk.
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The merger must still be approved by government regulators and shareholders at both companies.
