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Tesla May Need Cash To Deliver On the Model 3, Says Analysts (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: After receiving more than 198,000 Model 3 preorders in the first 24 hours, Tesla may need more cash if it hopes to deliver their new electric vehicle to customers on time, analysts said. Elon Musk plans to launch the Model 3 in late 2017, eventually boosting the company's annual production tenfold to 500,000 by 2020. Many analysts believe some customers making early reservations may not receive their vehicle until 2019 or 2020. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, predicted Tesla's sales will hit under 250,000 in 2020. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson, believes the surge of Model 3 reservations could reach 300,000 by the end of June. Some analysts expect the first cars will sell for an average of $50,000-$60,000, but Tesla prices its current models in several "tiers," depending on content and optional features. RBC analyst Joseph Spak said strong initial orders for the Model 3 could help Tesla achieve positive free cash flow. In February, the company said it expected to be cash-flow positive in March. Spak said Tesla may not be able to fulfill many of the early orders before 2019: "Demand was never really our concern, it is more about execution and getting production up to meet demand."
Tesla *invested* half a billion into a huge factory for an emerging product.
Like to try again?
Even backing that out, they lost money, hundreds of millions of dollars.
Even backing out ALL R&D doesn't make them profitable.
Tesla is losing about $15K per Model S sold. The fanboys like to talk about future investments and the gigafactory, but if you bother to read their income statement, you'll see that backing those out doesn't redress the problem.
Tesla isn't profitable on what they build now. The Model 3 won't be profitable either, not for awhile. There is no assurance they will EVER been profitable.