Electronic vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. reported Sunday that it delivered 25,000 cars in the first quarter, up 69 percent and vastly better than expected.
Alan Ohnsman of Forbes had the news:
The Palo Alto, California-based company built 25,418 Model S sedans and Model X crossover vehicles in the quarter that ended March 31, Tesla said in a statement. That was slightly above its previous quarterly high of 25,185 in last year’s third quarter.
Global deliveries of Teslas, which often cost more than $100,000 each, totaled “a little bit more than 25,000,” or 69 percent better than in the first quarter of 2016, the company said. That included about 13,450 units of Model S and 11,550 of Model X. The figures issued April 2 are preliminary estimates that could vary by 0.5 percent from final results, Tesla said.
Musk raised about $1.2 billion in a stock and debt sale last month to help fund costs related to producing the Model 3, Tesla’s first widely affordable electric car, with a promised base price of about $35,000.
Ramping up production of that new sedan, which has a waiting list of about 400,000 people who paid a $1,000 reservation fee, poses a considerable engineering challenge for the young company. Equity analysts generally have mixed views on whether Model 3 will launch on schedule in the third quarter of 2017 and the likelihood of Tesla achieving an overall production rate of 500,000 vehicles per year in 2018 and 1 million annually in 2020.
Cindy Perman of CNBC reports that the sales beat estimates by at least 1,000 cars:
The figure beat analysts’ expectations that Tesla would deliver around 23,000 or 24,000 vehicles, and came after Tesla missed delivery expectations in the fourth quarter. It also put Tesla on track to hit guidance of 50,000 vehicles to be delivered in the first half.
Tesla said 13,450 of those vehicles delivered in the first quarter were Model S and 11,550 were Model X.
The company said an additional 4,650 vehicles were in transit to customers, which would be included in Tesla’s second quarter numbers.
Telsa cautioned that the final numbers could vary slightly, by up to 0.5 percent.
Tesla shares closed Friday at $278.30 on the Nasdaq, up slightly from the previous day’s close.
Leslie Hook of the Financial Times reports that the company needs to keep growing:
The next few months will be a particularly testing time for the company as Mr Musk has promised that production of Tesla’s new car, the Model 3, will begin in July. Aimed at a mass market audience, the Model 3 is expected to have a price tag of about $35,000, less than half as expensive as the Model S sedan or the Model X crossover SUV.
Tesla delivered slightly more Model S cars than the Model X during the first quarter. It produced 25,418 vehicles and delivered 25,000 vehicles, an increase of 69 per cent from the same period a year ago.
Analysts are braced for losses when Tesla reports its first-quarter earnings next month. Analysts expect the company to report losses of $125m, after adjustments for one-off expenses, according to a survey from S&P Capital IQ, compared with losses of $121m in the fourth quarter of last year.
In Tesla’s previous earnings call in February, Mr Musk said he was considering raising more money from investors to shore up Tesla’s balance sheet. With an enterprise value of $52bn, Tesla has $3.4bn in cash and $8.6bn in debt, according to financial filings. The company makes its cars at its factory in Fremont, California, and has been heavily investing in its giant battery factory in Nevada, the Gigafactory.
