Tesla reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations on Wednesday, and the company said it is on track to meet its Model 3 production goals.
The company also said it delivered a record number of Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles in the quarter.
Tesla said it posted a loss of $675 million, or $4.01 per share, in the latest quarter, its biggest loss ever. A year ago, Tesla lost $121 million, or 78 cents per share.
After adjusting for one-time items, the company lost $513 million, or $3.04 per share.
Tesla reported negative free cash flow of $276.7 million, compared with $1.4 billion in the previous quarter, and $969.8 million in the fourth quarter last year.
Some analysts had expected Tesla’s cash burn to slow down, but warned that it remains a risk. Tesla said it is deferring some capital expenditure payments for the Model 3 to the first quarter of 2018.
Shares of the company were flat Wednesday evening.
Deliveries of Tesla’s higher-priced Model S and Model X vehicles grew 10 percent globally over Tesla’s prior record in the third quarter, and 28 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.
Despite concerns Model 3 would cannibalize sales of these pricier models, Tesla said customer foot traffic has increased considerably in stores where Model 3 is on display and orders for Model S and Model X have increased.
“There has been an even bigger increase in solar and Powerwall sales,” Tesla said.
Tesla opened 12 new store and service locations, for a total of 330 locations around the world at the end of 2017. Tesla increased productivity at existing service stations by 50 percent, doubling service capacity. Tesla’s Mobile Service performs 30 percent of all service jobs.
Tesla also opened 338 new Supercharger locations throughout the year, for a global total of 1,128 stations. Along with the company’s Destination Chargers, Tesla increased charging capacity by over 90 percent.
Here’s how the company did compared with what Wall Street expected:
- Adjusted loss per share: $3.04 vs. $3.12 expected according to Thomson Reuters
- Revenue: $3.29 billion vs. $3.28 billion expected according to Thomson Reuters
Tesla said it is on track to meet its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars a week by the end of the second quarter, executives said Wednesday. Tesla had originally planned to reach the target by the end of 2017, but has since moved the deadline twice.
“We continue to target weekly Model 3 production rates of 2,500 by the end of Q1,” the company said.
Producing the Model 3, a sedan that starts at $35,000, on a mass market scale is widely considered crucial to Tesla’s ambition of becoming a major automaker. Hopes that it will hit this target are considered one of the primary factors that have pushed Tesla’s share price far above those of its much larger and profitable U.S. competitors, Ford and GM.
Tesla has had challenges hitting its production targets due to manufacturing difficulties.
As CNBC has reported, current and former employees say the company may have further trouble ramping up production, due in part to problems at Tesla’s Gigafactory near Reno, Nevada.
