Tesla closed the first three months of the year with a loss of $ 702 million. Although sales rose from $ 3.4 billion a year earlier to $ 4.54 billion, they fell 37 percent compared to the previous quarter.
The sale of Model 3, to which the company has high hopes, has been unprofitable for the time being, and the company expects profits only mid-year. Tesla explains the loss that the delivery of ordered cars was still in progress at the end of the quarter, and revenue can only be accounted for in the second quarter. At least half of the first quarter deliveries were made in the last ten days.
Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of the company, called transportation difficulties the biggest logistics problem he had ever lived with. For the time being, Tesla only manufactures the Model 3 type in California.
This year, Tesla expects to sell 360-400 thousand cars and, if production starts in the Chinese factory in the autumn, this number can reach 500,000.
In March, Tesla repaid $ 900 million in outstanding debts, and its cash holdings dropped from $ 3.7 billion to $ 2.2 billion in three months. At an analyst meeting, Musk spoke openly about raising capital, although he has said so far that the company does not need it. The next major amount will be repaid in November, and the company will have to repay $ 500 million.
According to US brokerage firms interviewed by Reuters, Tesla wants to raise $ 1 to 3 billion from the market.
(Source: vezess.hu / photo: pixabay.com)
