According to my newspaper and the Wall Street Journal, Tesla has announced a fourth-quarter revenue of $36.3 million, which is a 16% increase from the previous quarter and double the $18.6 million from the previous year's 4th quarter. That exceeded Wall Street's estimate. Tesla's stock is selling at $22.86 as of last night.
However, the company lost $51.4 million, or 54 cents a share, last quarter, in spite of the increased income. This loss was due to increased spending on R&D and rapid hiring as it races to get its Model S sedan to the market.
Tesla has about 900 employees worldwide and has 165 job openings for battery technicians, firmware engineers, sales staff and a big boss.
CEO Elon Musk said that the highlight of the 4th quarter was the on-time completion of the first drivable Model S. Musk says that he drives the alpha-build Model S every week and he is really pleased with how the product is developing.
To date Tesla has sold 1500 Roadsters and 3,700 customers have paid $5000 each to reserve the Model S, which is scheduled for production in 2012. Also, Daimler has increased its order for Tesla's battery packs for its Smart ForTwo electric car from 1500 to 1800 packs.
For the year, Tesla reported a loss of $154.3 million, compared with a loss of $55.7 million in 2009. Deepak Ahuja, Tesla's CFO, says that revenue will increase to between $160 and $175 million this year.