(Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Wednesday posted its worst ever quarterly loss and said its Model 3 production target remains on track, expecting about 5,000 per week in about two months.
A Tesla Model 3 car is displayed during a media preview at the Auto China 2018 motor show in Beijing, China April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
Tesla said it produced 2,270 Model 3s per week in the last week of April, up from 2,250 in the second week of the month. (bit.ly/2jn15SB)
In order to achieve this production rate, Tesla plans to take additional days of downtime during the second quarter.
Tesla reported a loss of $709.6 million, or $4.19 per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $330.3 million, or $2.04 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Tesla had a loss of $3.35 per share. Analysts had expected a loss of $3.58 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company said it ended the quarter with $3.2 billion in cash after spending $655.7 million in quarterly capital expenses.
Shares of the Palo Alto, California-based company were up nearly 1 percent at $303 in extended trading.
The lack of Model 3 revenue has exacerbated Tesla’s cash burn as the company continues to spend on its assembly-line and prepares for new investments on multiple projects in the pipeline, such as the Model Y and its Gigafactory in Nevada.
Moody’s, which downgraded Tesla last month, has estimated that Tesla will burn about $2 billion in cash this year.
Reporting By Alexandria Sage and Sonam Rai; Editing by Bernard Orr