Tesla Inc. meant what it said when telling investors this month that another capital raise won’t be necessary this year, and Elon Musk just elaborated on why.
The electric-car maker will be profitable and cash-flow positive in the third and fourth quarters, the CEO predicted in an early Friday morning tweet.
That’s a rosy outlook relative to Wall Street expectations. Tesla is projected to burn through about $994 million in the second half of the year, according to analysts’ average estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts also are expecting adjusted net losses of about $192 million and $35 million in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Reasons for Musk’s optimism lie in his assessment of progress making more Model 3 sedans. The 46-year-old billionaire gave CBS This Morning a tour of Tesla’s assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., and said the company should be able to sustain producing 2,000 of the cars a week after resolving manufacturing issues that had been crimping output.
Tesla probably will boost Model 3 output by three- or four-fold in the second quarter, Musk told CBS. Tesla shares rose 1.9 percent in early trading to $299.61.
Musk was tweeting in response to a , which said the electric carmaker would need $2.5 billion to $3 billion in additional funding this year, citing Wall Street brokerage Jefferies.
"The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it's just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable & cash flow+ in Q3 & Q4, so obv no need to raise money," .
Reuters contributed to this report.
You can reach Ryan Beene at autonews@crain.com