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Horrible quarter for them. If they don't resolve their issues with the SEC and raise capital, they will run out of cash in months.

hi5eyes 7y ago
and now everyone begins to wonder why they havent done a raise
bobsil1 7y ago
Tesla's going down this time! <they survive> Aha. Nevertheless, …
martinald 7y ago
Yeah I think people are underestimating how dire the financials are. I think the cars are pretty cool (though way too much autopilot hype) and it's awesome that EVs have came so far so quickly. If Tesla continues burning cash like this quarter, it will basically be out of money in Q2, yet they are not raising capital which suggests there is some major problem. I think Tesla has had an awful lot of financial near misses so far and they are lucky to have made it this far, but they can't go on being so close on financials this poor forever.
- fooker 7y ago
  Billionaires have billionaire friends. It won't be too difficult for Elon Musk to talk to the Google folks and get a few billions in funding, for an appropriate equity.
  - omarchowdhury 7y ago
    Why would the Google folks help a potential Waymo SDC competitor?
    - nexuist 7y ago
      Because then they'd have stakes in two high profile L5 attempts rather than only one. That way, regardless of who wins, they'd still have their part in the inception of the self driving industry.
    - kissickas 7y ago
      Larry Page already invested in Tesla more than a decade ago. Google has invested in Lyft as well, which is also set to be a competitor.
  - philwelch 7y ago
    He already blew one deal, and it was with the Saudis, so I think he’s scraping the barrel for equity partners already.
- claytoneast 7y ago
  If they have 2.2B in the bank, lost 700 mil this quarter, expect to lose significantly less in the next quarter, how are they out of money? Even if they lost 500mil next quarter, they'd still have another 3 quarters of that left. That's not "basically out of money", in my mind.
  - FireBeyond 7y ago
    You're thinking too short term. For a large industrial manufacturer with $10B in revenues or more to be "three quarters" away from literal bankruptcy/insolvency is dangerously close to that.
  - jacques_chester 7y ago
    Cashflow and income (aka profit & loss) are different beasts. You can be very profitable and run out of cash and it's possible to be flush with cash yet post a loss. In the near term, cash is what matters. If you run out of cash, the company is bankrupt. For a "normal" big company, which is approximately profitable, it's fine to have much less cash-on-hand, because you will have established lines of credit and easy access to the financial markets if you need more. Much more importantly: you have a lot of cash coming through the door, approximately enough to cover cash going out the door. This varies by business: some naturally have very lumpy cashflow (eg mining) and others have very smooth cashflow (eg breweries). A lot of what CFOs do is manage this cashflow. For corporate health, it needs to be smooth, which means at any given time some cash is being received, some is going out, some is being banked and invested in short-term instruments and some is being borrowed. Some haggling with suppliers and customers about payment dates is also normal, because cash delayed or brought forward is cash made or lost. On the other hand, if you are not operating profitably, you will need regular infusions of cash to keep operating. You actually need a lot more cash and cash-equivalents on hand than the profitable business does, because it takes you longer to get cash in the first place. A line of credit is more or less instant, short term cash can be arranged in a day and so on. But selling bonds takes time, up to months. Selling shares takes time, up to months. You need cash to cover a cash supply delay that a profitable business doesn't need. That's Tesla's problem. They have enough cash for a few quarters and it is not replenishing fast enough from sales income or deposits. They will need to raise money and the longer they delay, the more punitive the terms will be.
whttheuuu 7y ago
lol, feel like this comment has been posted for years.

hi5eyes 7y ago

and now everyone begins to wonder why they havent done a raise

bobsil1 7y ago

Tesla's going down this time! <they survive> Aha. Nevertheless, …

martinald 7y ago

Yeah I think people are underestimating how dire the financials are. I think the cars are pretty cool (though way too much autopilot hype) and it's awesome that EVs have came so far so quickly. If Tesla continues burning cash like this quarter, it will basically be out of money in Q2, yet they are not raising capital which suggests there is some major problem. I think Tesla has had an awful lot of financial near misses so far and they are lucky to have made it this far, but they can't go on being so close on financials this poor forever.

fooker 7y ago
Billionaires have billionaire friends. It won't be too difficult for Elon Musk to talk to the Google folks and get a few billions in funding, for an appropriate equity.
- omarchowdhury 7y ago
  Why would the Google folks help a potential Waymo SDC competitor?
  - nexuist 7y ago
    Because then they'd have stakes in two high profile L5 attempts rather than only one. That way, regardless of who wins, they'd still have their part in the inception of the self driving industry.
  - kissickas 7y ago
    Larry Page already invested in Tesla more than a decade ago. Google has invested in Lyft as well, which is also set to be a competitor.
- philwelch 7y ago
  He already blew one deal, and it was with the Saudis, so I think he’s scraping the barrel for equity partners already.
claytoneast 7y ago
If they have 2.2B in the bank, lost 700 mil this quarter, expect to lose significantly less in the next quarter, how are they out of money? Even if they lost 500mil next quarter, they'd still have another 3 quarters of that left. That's not "basically out of money", in my mind.
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  You're thinking too short term. For a large industrial manufacturer with $10B in revenues or more to be "three quarters" away from literal bankruptcy/insolvency is dangerously close to that.
- jacques_chester 7y ago
  Cashflow and income (aka profit & loss) are different beasts. You can be very profitable and run out of cash and it's possible to be flush with cash yet post a loss. In the near term, cash is what matters. If you run out of cash, the company is bankrupt. For a "normal" big company, which is approximately profitable, it's fine to have much less cash-on-hand, because you will have established lines of credit and easy access to the financial markets if you need more. Much more importantly: you have a lot of cash coming through the door, approximately enough to cover cash going out the door. This varies by business: some naturally have very lumpy cashflow (eg mining) and others have very smooth cashflow (eg breweries). A lot of what CFOs do is manage this cashflow. For corporate health, it needs to be smooth, which means at any given time some cash is being received, some is going out, some is being banked and invested in short-term instruments and some is being borrowed. Some haggling with suppliers and customers about payment dates is also normal, because cash delayed or brought forward is cash made or lost. On the other hand, if you are not operating profitably, you will need regular infusions of cash to keep operating. You actually need a lot more cash and cash-equivalents on hand than the profitable business does, because it takes you longer to get cash in the first place. A line of credit is more or less instant, short term cash can be arranged in a day and so on. But selling bonds takes time, up to months. Selling shares takes time, up to months. You need cash to cover a cash supply delay that a profitable business doesn't need. That's Tesla's problem. They have enough cash for a few quarters and it is not replenishing fast enough from sales income or deposits. They will need to raise money and the longer they delay, the more punitive the terms will be.

whttheuuu 7y ago

lol, feel like this comment has been posted for years.