Electric car maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw losses widen in the first quarter despite strong growth in revenue.
The first quarter loss ballooned to US$397mln from US$282mln a year earlier.
Production in the first three months of the year shot up by around two-thirds from a year earlier to 25,000 vehicles, leading to a new quarterly record for car deliveries of 25,051.
Revenue more than doubled to US$2.70bn from US$1.15bn in the corresponding period of 2016, and was around US$100mln higher than the market had been expecting.
Tesla First Quarter Revenue:
2017 $2.7 billion
2016 $1.6 billion
2015 $1.1 billion
2014 $713 million
2013 $562 million
2012 $30 million
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) May 3, 2017
The loss before tax was deeper at US$371.9mln compared to US$278.4mln the previous year.
The post-tax loss was US$330.3mln, versus US$282.3mln the year before, equating to a net loss per share of US$2.04, which represents an improvement on the previous year’s US$2.13.
The adjusted loss per share of US$1.33 was 52 cents worse than the market had been expecting.
Profit per vehicle sold in 1st quarter:
GM: $1,418
Ford: $1,174
Tesla: -$15,855
— Nick Bunkley (@nickbunkley) May 3, 2017
The company said development of the Model 3 is nearly complete, and production of the vehicle is set to start imminently, with the company targeting output of 5,000 units a month at some point this year and twice that amount next year.
The model 3 will mark the company’s attempt to move into the mid-market.
The group said it was sitting on around US$4bn of cash when it headed into the second quarter.
The shares fell 2.6% to US$310.77 yesterday and fell a further US$4.47 in screen-based trading after the bell to US$306.30.