Tesla hits bump in road after turnaround
UNABLE to string together profitable quarters, electric car and solar cell maker Tesla has reported a loss for the last three months of 2016. Tesla posted its first profit in 2016’s third quarter and had predicted net income in the fourth.
Instead, the company lost $US121.3 million ($A157.5 million).
Still, that was less than half the $US320.4 million loss from a year earlier.
Tesla’s shares rose 1.6 per cent in after-hours trading to $US277.90. They have jumped more than 50 per cent since early December.
The company said it expected to start making its Model 3 electric car in July, with higher-volume production by September.
Chief executive Elon Musk said the company would produce 5000 cars a week when Model 3 production was in full swing.
The Model 3 was a car that would be easier to make, Mr Musk said.
More of the Model 3’s production also will be automated.
“We also understand manufacturing a lot better than we did in the past,” he said on a conference call.
Fourth-quarter results included the acquisition of solar panel maker SolarCity, Tesla said.
The company reported $US131.4 million in revenue during the quarter from its energy generation and storage businesses.
For the full year, Tesla reported a net loss of just less than $US675 million, or $US4.68 a share.
Full-year revenue rose 73 per cent to more than $US7 billion, surpassing initial estimates of $US6.9 billion.