Tesla Motors reported a larger-than-expected loss in the second quarter of the year, but CEO Elon Musk vowed that big things were in store for the second half of 2016 and beyond.
The $293 million quarterly loss translated to $1.06 per share on an adjusted basis, which Bloomberg reported was well below analysts’ expectations and double the deficit from the second quarter of 2015.
Deliveries of the Tesla’s luxury electric vehicles were also below expectations in the quarter, Musk said, due to parts shortages and an overly ambitious rollout of the Model X SUV, which experienced a slew ofdesign and manufacturing issues in its initial months.
Those disappointing results were compounded by recent controversies surrounding its Autopilot semi-autonomous system and its proposed merger with solar panel installer SolarCity.
Investors, however, appeared to be largely appeased by Musk’s optimism on the company’s earnings call as well as by other, more positive indicators. The company produced a record number of cars in the quarter and its margins and negative cash flow were improved.
And although its expenses climbed 34 percent, revenue increased by nearly the same amount.
“Basically, we were in production hell for the first six months of this year,” Musk said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Now the production line is humming.”
Musk said that the company is now “overwhelmingly” focused on the Model 3, its more economical electric vehicle slated to debut late next year. Some 373,000 pre-orders for the car were taken this spring, and Tesla is racing to produce more car batteries to meet the demand at its recently opened “Gigafactory.”
Musk was also critical of federal probes into Autopilot that were launched in the wake of the first fatal accident involving the system. He said investigators were given all the information about the May 7 crash weeks before the investigations were launched.
He also predicted that self-driving technology will become a reality “faster than anyone thinks it will.”
“I think what we’ve got under development is going to blow people’s minds,” Musk said.
