Tesla posts both record revenue and record losses

[midian182]

Tesla has announced its earnings for the first quarter of the year, and while it managed to break two records, the EV manufacturer won’t be happy about one of them.

Elon Musk’s firm's revenue was higher than ever before, up 26 percent to $3.4 billion and beating analysts’ predictions of $3.142 billion. But it's not all good news, as the firm continues to lose money. Net losses for the quarter were a record $784.6 million or $4.19 per share. Analysts expected net losses of $3.26 per share.

The news saw Tesla ‘s shares plunge five percent in after-hours trading, wiping around $2.4 billion off the company’s value. They currently stand at $301, down from the record high of $389.61 back in September last year.

"If people are concerned about volatility, they should definitely not buy our stock," said Musk, who believes investors should be looking at the long term.

Tesla still believes it will be profitable in the second half of 2018, but only if it is able to reach a production target of 5000 Model 3 sedans each week—something it plans to reach within in two months. That sounds ambitious, considering the company managed to produce just 2,270 cars each week for three consecutive weeks in April. Eventually, it aims to output 10,000 Model 3s per week.

“Even at this stage of the ramp, Model 3 is already on the cusp of becoming the best-selling mid-sized premium sedan in the US, and our deliveries continue to increase,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk and CFO Deepak Ahuja wrote in a letter to investors. “Consumers have clearly shown that electric vehicles are simply more desirable when priced on par with their internal combustion engine competitors while offering better technology, performance and user experience.”

Tesla continues to face issues with its Model 3 manufacturing process. It temporarily suspended production in mid-April to “improve automation” and deal with bottlenecks on the assembly line, and it expects another ten days of downtime this quarter. Musk has admitted that an over-reliance on automation at Tesla was a mistake.

"We made a mistake by adding too much automation too quickly," he told investors yesterday.

Last week, it was revealed that one of the decisions that Tesla shareholders will vote on at their annual meeting in June is whether to retain Musk as Chairman of the Board.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74444-tesla-posts-both-record-revenue-record-losses.html

 

[davislane1]

"The more you buy, the more we lose." - Elon Musk

 

[yRaz]

So the value of the companies shares when down because of speculative trading even though as a business they made more money than ever?

It sucks that the value of Tesla dropped but I don't think it their fault.

 

[Flebbert]

Think this is the year that they have to make deadlines. Is there any where to bet on if Tesla will make the year out? I honestly think it could go both ways......... The Model S is still one of the craziest and fun cars I have ever been in.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

So the value of the companies shares when down because of speculative trading even though as a business they made more money than ever?

It sucks that the value of Tesla dropped but I don't think it their fault.

Perhaps, but Musk has been saying 'focus on the long-term' for a while now. You can't keep saying that for years and years - eventually the 'long-term' is here.

And to be fair - the stock is trading at $300. That's still pretty really high for them over the last few years.

There other big reason the stock may have gone down - He said he didn't want to answer 'boring' questions... like when they're going to make money.

 

[Michiel]

So the value of the companies shares when down because of speculative trading even though as a business they made more money than ever?

It sucks that the value of Tesla dropped but I don't think it their fault.

They had record revenue, not record profits. They didn't make any money. They LOST money. That's why the shares dropped.

 

[merikafyeah]

So the value of the companies shares when down because of speculative trading even though as a business they made more money than ever?

It sucks that the value of Tesla dropped but I don't think it their fault.

They had record revenue, not record profits. They didn't make any money. They LOST money. That's why the shares dropped.

Amazon regularly posts losses, actually more so than profits, and when they do post a profit it's barely anything, and yet Amazon shares are doing fine. Losses aren't the only reason why shares drop.

Still, I wouldn't be too worried about the future of Tesla. The situation is definitely not as bleak as many less informed people tend to believe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHS0H5AwGjU

 

[JaredTheDragon]

The future of Tesla is garbage just like their cars. Yes, they're fast and fun and cool and electrically-powered, but they have BATTERIES. Tesla himself would be turning over in his grave if he knew. The vehicles' power source goes against everything he worked towards, and they stole his name anyway. It's just terrible.

 

[senketsu]

What's with all these modern companies that retain stock value yet lose money quarter after quarter. How do they sustain themselves, is it tax write-off's and lots of government subsidies? If someone can explain this relatively simply I'd really like to know.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

What's with all these modern companies that retain stock value yet lose money quarter after quarter. How do they sustain themselves, is it tax write-off's and lots of government subsidies? If someone can explain this relatively simply I'd really like to know.

They don't sustain themselves. They don't generate any profits, yet somehow their figurehead "CEOs" are instantly worth billions and billions. It's fake. It's not real. Yes, the cars are real (really old tech) but that's not the same as saying Musk is really worth that much money - when he's not made any from his two biggest ventures. It's preposterous. Just like Zucky "making billions" from Facebook before they even had a saleable product OR ad revenue.