Tesla makes ‘mind-blowing leap forward’ despite record loss

Shares rise as cash burn was less than expected

Tesla Model 3Tesla has surprised investors and analysts with its latest quarterly set of results, sending shares up more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.

But Elon Musk’s electric car company still lost a record-breaking amount of cash, with losses of $717 million more than doubling compared to the same quarter in 2017.

Tesla burned through $430 million of its cash reserves – but because this was less than investors expected, the results were seen positively, which is why shares rose so sharply.

The firm still has $2.2 billion of cash in reserve, easing concerns that it might run out of money.

Tesla Elon Musk Grimes

CEO Musk, pictured above with Canadian musician girlfriend Grimes called the results “really kind of a mind-blowing leap forward” in a call to analysts – particularly as the firm met its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars “multiple” times last month. The new goal is to make more than 50,000 of them in the next quarter.

Musk also said Tesla aims to make a profit in the second half of the year, for the first time in its 15-year history. “Our goal is to be profitable and cash flow positive for every quarter going forward.”

Tesla Model 3 delivery event

Overall, Tesla delivered 18,000 Model 3 in the previous quarter, and a total of more than 40,000 cars overall, once Model S and Model X are factored in.

Musk also apologised for his erratic performance on the firm’s previous quarterly investor call, and for controversial comments about the rescuer of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand.

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Richard Aucock
Richard Aucockhttps://www.richardaucock.co.uk/
Richard is director at Motoring Research. He has been with us since 2001, and has been a motoring journalist even longer. He won the IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future Award in 1996 and the acclaimed Sir William Lyons Award in 1998. Both awards are run by the Guild of Motoring Writers and Richard is currently vice chair of the world's largest organisation for automotive media professionals. Richard is also a juror and Steering Committee director for World Car Awards and the UK juror for the AUTOBEST awards.

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