Tesla Posts a Loss of $282 Million in First Quarter of 2016

The US based electric car manufacturer has reported a loss of $282 million in the first 4 months of 2016. One of the key reasons was the problem in the manufacturing processes of the Model X, Tesla's latest model. Some of the suppliers for Model X parts had delayed their deliveries and therefore, the manufacturing could not be carried out at maximum capacity. For each of its share, Tesla lost $2.13, which was far more than what Wall Street had predicted. At the most, the predicted loss per share was said to be 87 cents or lesser, but this is in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Pricinciples (GAAP). The accounting rules do not allow to record revenue for leased models. If adjusted, excluding certain items, the loss comes to around 57 cents per share or $75 million, lesser than Standard &Poor's predicted loss of 60 cents a share.

The American carmaker still delivered 14,810 units of the Model S and the Model X combined for the period of January-March 2016, which is an increase of 48 per cent than last year. Tesla has promised that it is committed to deliver 80,000 to 90,000 models by the end of 2016 as per plan. Also, in a bid to increase its manufacturing capacity, it has decided to invest a sum of over $2 billion in 2016. This will allow Tesla to make 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018, a couple of years ahead of schedule. This will help increase the production of Model 3, the most affordable car from Tesla as well.

The story is not all grim though. Tesla was able to post a first-quarter revenue of $1.1 billion, which reflects a growth of over 22 per cent when compared to last year's figures. A majority of the revenue can be attributed to the booking amount for the Model 3, which is $1,000. The company has received more than 3, 25,000 bookings for the Model 3 in the first week after its launch on March 31, 2016.