Revenue rose 33 percent to $1.27 billion. Tesla instead delivered 14,402 vehicles, a number investors say they will live with, as it showed progress toward the company’s production goals.
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Heading into the report, Tesla has faced slower-than-expected growth in production and delivery of its Model X, the SUV version of its all-electric auto.
In the last quarter, the automotive company reported a $1.15 billion revenue, 22% significantly higher than last year’s figure of $939 million or $1.6 billion excluding certain items.
According to Tesla, second quarter of this year has been “certainly busy”. I expect the company to miss the guidance by a huge margin.
Tesla shares fell less than 1 percent in aftermarket trading, to $225.79.
During an earnings conference call on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk was asked about Tesla’s timeline for fully autonomous vehicles. For the quarter, the electric vehicle maker posted an adjusted diluted loss per share loss of $1.06 on adjusted revenues of $1.56 billion.
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”. “This is a company that is continuing to invest the future”. Tesla is a manufacturing company, and Solar City is about to become one as well.
The company is now on a spending spree, emptying the bank to develop its Model 3 production line; build Gigafactory, a battery factory in the Nevada desert; and add an average of one new retail locations every four days.
Tesla now holds $9.3 billion in liabilities versus $11.9 billion in assets, and reports $2.5 billion in stockholder equity. “Now the producing line is humming…”
TSLA has underperformed the market, falling 6% this year as the S&P 500 climbed by 4%.
The new models are expected to be launched mid-2017. The company has some 375K pre-orders for its upcoming Model 3, which the company is touting as being more affordable. In this quarter, the company said that it produced 18,345 vehicles, implying a weekly production rate of just over 1,400 vehicles per week. Via his Twitter handle, Musk confirmed that Tesla will soon be expanding its portfolio with the Model Y compact SUV and an all-electric minibus.
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Musk warned he would fire suppliers and reorganize internal teams who fail to meet a target date of July 1 to begin production of the Model 3, even while acknowledging it will not be possible to meet that date.
