Electric car pioneer Tesla reported that it has suffered its 13th straight quarterly loss from increased spending on its vehicle and battery factories. The loss comes amidst the announcement of its ambitious goal to ramp up vehicle production ten times within three years and its plan to acquire sister company SolarCity.
Despite the loss, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said they are still on track with their goal of delivering 50,000 Model S and Model X vehicles by the second half. Musk also said it was gearing up for its upcoming Model 3 sedan and is preparing to spend $2.25 billion in capital expenditures this year.
However, Tesla has already failed to achieve its second quarter goal of 17,000 with only 14,402 vehicles delivered. Ivan Feinseth, financial analyst at Tigress Financial Partners, noted the company has repeatedly failed to meet its production projections. But the market seems to be giving Tesla the benefit of the doubt considering that the company is still on its growth stage, he said.
Shares of Tesla remained unaffected in after-hours trading despite the news. But the company’s aggregate net loss has already widened to $2.02 per share or about $293.2 million compared to last year’s $1.45 per share or $184.2 million.
