Tesla's Q1 Falls Short Of The Street's Low Expectations

Tesla Inc TSLA missed top- and bottom-line Street estimates in its first-quarter report Wednesday. 

The electric carmaker reported a first-quarter bottom-line loss of $2.90 per share on revenue of $4.541 billion, missing analyst expectations of a 66-cent loss on $5.44 billion in revenue. 

The figures are an improvement over the first quarter of 2018, when Tesla posted a loss of $4.19 per share on revenue of $3.4 billion.

Model 3 deliveries fell from 63,359 in the fourth quarter to 50,928. Model 3 production rose 545 percent on a year-over-year basis. 

Tesla reported:

• Operating income of $521.8 million with a negative 11.5-percent operating margin; 
• An end-of-quarter cash balance of $2.2 billion, for a 40-percent percent sequential decrease;
• Negative net cash from operating activites of $639.6 million; 
• A 4.1-percent fall in auto GAAP gross margins; and
• A 13-percent quarter-over-quarter drop in energy storage revenue to $324.6 million. 

Q2 Guidance

Tesla reaffirmed prior guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries this year.

"If our Gigafactory Shanghai is able to reach volume production early in Q4 this year, we may be able to produce as many as 500,000 vehicles globally in 2019," the automaker said. "This is an aggressive schedule, but it is what we are targeting." 

Tesla is targeting a 25-percent non-GAAP gross margin for Models S, X and 3. 

Tesla shares were down 1.99 percent at $258.66 at the close Wednesday and were up 1.68 percent to $263 in after-hours trading at the time of publication.

Related Links:

Wall Street Weighs In On Tesla's Autonomy Day Presentation

Tesla's Weekend Starts With Board Shakeup, Ends With Car Explosion

Photo courtesy of Tesla.