DETROIT: Tesla Motors Inc missed fourth-quarter sales targets and analysts' profit expectations, but chief executive officer Elon Musk on Wednesday said by 2025 Tesla's growth trajectory could take its market value to US$700bil (RM2.5tril), matching that of Apple Inc.
It was a glimmer of optimism capping a difficult quarter that saw the electric-car company struggle with production and delivery issues on several fronts, notably in China.
Tesla said heavy capital and operating expenses would escalate in 2015.
Expansion of the company's global sales network and development of the new Model X crossover increased operating expenses in the fourth quarter to US$336.5mil (RM1.2bil) from US$169.9mil (RM616mil) a year ago.
Operating expenses for the year were US$1.07bil (RM3.88bil) and are expected to grow another 45 to 50% in 2015.
Free cash flow in the quarter was a negative US$455.1mil (RM1.6bil), as cash dwindled to US$1.91bil (US6.9bil) from US$2.37bil (RM8.59bil) at the end of the third quarter. The company's cash burn next year should be less than US$1bil (RM3.63bil), according to chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja.
Musk told analysts that Tesla should return to positive cash flow in late 2015, but said he did not see the need to raise additional funds "right now."
He countered analysts' question about Tesla's cash position by painting an upbeat picture of the company's long-term prospects.
Musk said Tesla's revenue this year could grow to US$6bil (RM21.7bil), from US$3.2bil (RM11.2bil) in 2014. His 2025 market-cap prediction assumed 50% annual revenue growth and a price-to-equity ratio for the stock of 20.
Tesla reported a quarterly loss of US$107.6mil (RM390mil), compared with a year-ago loss of US$16.3mil (RM58.9mil). Revenue in the quarter climbed to US$956.7mil (RM3.4bil), from US$615.2mil (RM2.2bil) a year ago.
The California-based maker of luxury electric cars delivered 9,834 Model S sedans in the quarter, well below chief executive officer Musk's earlier forecast of 13,000.
Tesla said it built a record 11,627 cars, boosting total production to 35,000 for the year. But the company delivered only 31,655 and said delays would push some deliveries into the first quarter of 2015.
Sales in North America in 2014 were flat, at about 17,400, or 55% of the total. About 9,500 cars were delivered in Europe and about 4,750 to the Asia Pacific region, including China, where sales began last April.
The company expects to deliver about 55,000 cars globally in 2015, an increase of about 74%.
Musk said Tesla's US$35,000 (RM126,600) Model 3 should be in production by the second half of 2017, and that its design will not be as "adventurous" as that of the gullwinged Model X crossover, in order to keep the production schedule on track.
He said Tesla remains "on plan" to begin battery production in 2016 at a US$5bil (RM18bil) factory outside Reno, Nevada. Tesla's market cap at close was US$26.7bil (RM96.8bil). — Reuters
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