Tesla announces 12th quarterly loss, but promises half million cars by 2018

Eventually, Ars got a quick 2-minute ride in the Model 3 pre-production prototype. (credit: Megan Geuss)

On Wednesday, Tesla reported a $283 million loss for Q1 2016, its 12^th straight quarterly loss in a row. Last quarter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla would find itself in the black this quarter, but that prediction did not pan out. Still, the loss was narrower than Wall Street expected, leading to a 4.4 percent climb in stock price in after hours trading as of this writing. (Tesla’s Q1 loss is a wider $320 million according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which includes stock-based compensation and treats vehicle leases differently.)

Still, the company’s overall quarterly revenue rose 22 percent from Q1 in 2015 to $1.6 billion (or 1.15 billion according to GAAP).

In addition, Tesla said it would be sticking by its promise to deliver 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles this year, and it made its long-term delivery outlook more aggressive, promising 500,000 Teslas on the road by 2018 instead of 2020.

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