Early versions of the Model 3 are shown waiting for delivery to the first buyers last week.
After taking a sharp tumble, Tesla stock rallied on Wednesday, investors responding positively to a nearly doubling of revenues during the second quarter, with the battery-carmaker’s loss for the April-June period narrowing more than analysts had expected.
Tesla clearly needed a boost after suffering a nearly $70 a share dip from the record $383.45 closing it had hit on June 23rd. And the second-quarter earnings appeared to be just the tonic needed as the company moves into the critical rollout of its Model 3 sedan.
For the quarter, Tesla reported an adjusted loss of $1.33 a share, well below the $1.82 deficit analysts had anticipated, according to consensus numbers gathered by Thomson Reuters. Meanwhile, revenue jumped to $2.79 billion, while analysts had expected a figure of $2.51 billion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk triggered a run on TSLA shares by warning of potential Model 3 production problems last week.
The strong revenue came despite the fact that Tesla delivered fewer of its Models S and X during the quarter than it had original expected, a shortfall reflecting battery supply issues. On the other hand, vehicle deliveries were still up 53% year-over-year.
Tesla last Friday delivered the first of its Model 3 sedans to a handful of early customers during a splashy ceremony at its Fremont, CA headquarters. It has been promising to boost production rates to 5,000 a week by the end of 2017 – up from an average of less than 2,000 last year.
CEO Elon Musk is even more ambitious about 2018, forecasting combined sales of Tesla’s three models will come to 500,000 for the year, or about a six-fold increase over 2017.
But Musk triggered a run on Tesla shares warning of “manufacturing hell” during the first six months of the production ramp-up.
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Musk and other Tesla officials will hold an evening news conference to discuss Tesla’s second-quarter results and future plans. TheDetroitBureau.com will have more to come on that teleconference.