Tesla's Belt Tightning ?

[ben1628]

Well, with this week's price reduction, and the introduction of V3, what do u think Tesla is up to.

They just paid $920 million bond obligation due on March 1, oh, they are running out of cash. Are they?

The news today from China is they are getting $521 million USD from various Chinese Banks. No Tariff.

Tesla is a growth company just like Amazon in the beginning. They are trying to reach critical mass, and with all the superchargers around, it will be a while before anyone can catch up.

My LR M3 is getting better everyday. LOL.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Yummy, that kool-aide sure tastes good. You aren't related to Jim Jones by any chance are you?
I like to think that Tesla will simply crush every other car maker, but I am also a realist. I'll wait and see what happens.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I had to come back in and finish this thought above. We should look at the whole picture. You are just mentioning a few positives. However, Tesla burned an average of $1 Billion per quarter last year and has slowed it somewhat, yet still high. Correct me on this, but if I remember properly from 2018 year end, then had about $3.7 billion in available cash. So after paying the bond, (they had to pay all cash instead of 1/2 cash 1/2 stock and they planned), then that leaves under $3B. At current burn rate, they are out of cash before end of year unless start making a profit again or raising more money. Let's just hope things go well

 

[ben1628]

As a M3 car owner I do worry about how stable Tesla finance is. But then again the Model s and model x owners are already in it for at least 2 years.

So I'm just happy to enjoy the car so early in the cycle

 

[rypalmer]

I had to come back in and finish this thought above. We should look at the whole picture. You are just mentioning a few positives. However, Tesla burned an average of $1 Billion per quarter last year and has slowed it somewhat, yet still high. Correct me on this, but if I remember properly from 2018 year end, then had about $3.7 billion in available cash. So after paying the bond, (they had to pay all cash instead of 1/2 cash 1/2 stock and they planned), then that leaves under $3B. At current burn rate, they are out of cash before end of year unless start making a profit again or raising more money. Let's just hope things go well

How much cash did they burn in the 3rd and 4th quarter last year?

 

[Silicon Desert]

How much cash did they burn in the 3rd and 4th quarter last year?

My understanding is that it dropped to around $700M range

 

[rypalmer]

My understanding is that it dropped to around $700M range

Oh you're talking all capital expenditures together. Why confuse capital expenses and cash flow? Their cash and equivalents improved from $2.2B to 3.7B during that time. That's the opposite of having a burn rate that is going to run them down to zero.

 

[Buggle]

I had to come back in and finish this thought above. We should look at the whole picture. You are just mentioning a few positives. However, Tesla burned an average of $1 Billion per quarter last year and has slowed it somewhat, yet still high. Correct me on this, but if I remember properly from 2018 year end, then had about $3.7 billion in available cash. So after paying the bond, (they had to pay all cash instead of 1/2 cash 1/2 stock and they planned), then that leaves under $3B. At current burn rate, they are out of cash before end of year unless start making a profit again or raising more money. Let's just hope things go well

Profit & cash flow are not the same thing. Also, their cash flow improved by some huge amount last quarter, $1.3B iirc?

 

[Funkmobile]

Oh you're talking all capital expenditures together. Why confuse capital expenses and cash flow? Their cash and equivalents improved from $2.2B to 3.7B during that time. That's the opposite of having a burn rate that is going to run them down to zero.

According to 4th quarter financials, Tesla had $3.69 Billion in ready to spend liquid cash as of December 31, 2018. For comparison sakes, as of December 31, 2017 they had $3.37 Billion ready to spend liquid cash. They're net income is not a clear indicator of their cash position because they have a lot of past fixed costs that they are amortizing that goes against net income. However, at the same time they continue reinvest a good chunk of that liquid cash back into those fixed costs (R&D, Building Factories, Building Supercharger stations etc).

 

[ben1628]

Think outside the box.

Tesla Side

1/ Bring a $35K electric car to the market. They just did. The demand is excellent.
2/ Bring V3 supercharger.
3/ Launch Model Y.
4/ rebrand Autopilot and FSD.
5/ Sell to Europe and China
6/ More … ?

My Side (I think quite of few of us are in the same boat).

1/ Order LR M3 June 2018. Actually wants AWD but it's not in the approved list for rebate
2/ Cancelled order when Tesla was singled out.
3/ Re-order in November when Tesla told us those who cancelled can re-order and get the rebate. (side story was one of the qualified guy back out of the deal when he couldn't get the life time Premium Connectivity. It was going to cost $100/year after first year, but compares to $14,000. Oh well. Now it looks like we got life time Premium connectivity anyway.)
4/ Didn't order AP or EAP.
5/ Will order AP next week, don't really understand why I am waiting. LOL
6/ Will look at EAP when it is finally released or close to be released. Hopefully in the same price, but no regret if it doesn't