- Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that there is "merit" to the idea of raising new funds.
- "At this point, I do think there is some merit to raising capital," he said during Tesla 's first-quarter earnings call. "This is probably about the right timing."
- Tesla ended the first quarter with $2.2 billion of cash and cash equivalents, down $1.5 billion from the end of 2018.
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Elon Musk said now is 'probably' around the right time to raise capital (TSLA)
Rashid Umar Abbasi / Reuters
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that there is "merit" to the idea of raising new funds.
"At this point, I do think there is some merit to raising capital," he said during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call. "This is probably about the right timing."
But Musk said the electric-car maker cannot lean on outside funds at the expense of financial discipline.
"I don't think raising capital should be a substitute for making the company operate more effectively," Musk said.
Musk added that Tesla has become more efficient in its spending during the past year.
"I think Tesla today is a far more efficiently operating organization than it was a year ago," he said. "We've made dramatic improvements across the board."
Tesla ended the first quarter with $2.2 billion of cash and cash equivalents, down $1.5 billion from the end of 2018. The company secured a loan of up to $521 billion in March for the construction of its upcoming factory in Shanghai, and last issued new shares of its stock in 2017.
Tesla reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The company posted a loss of $2.90 per share (analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a loss of $1.30 per share) on revenue of $4.54 billion (the analysts polled by Bloomberg predicted $4.84 billion in revenue).
Have you worked for Tesla? Do you have a story to share? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com .
- Read more:
- Tesla just reported an abysmal quarter with Model S and Model X sales falling off a cliff Elon Musk says Tesla will begin offering its own insurance to customers next month
- Tesla has achieved one of its biggest goals by delivering the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3 but the company has been oddly quiet about it
- Tesla announced improved battery ranges for the Model S and Model X and brought back the lower-cost version of both cars
See Also:
- Elon Musk says Tesla will begin offering its own insurance to customers next month
- Tesla has achieved one of its biggest goals by delivering the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3 but the company has been oddly quiet about it
- Nvidia fires back at Tesla's claim that it created the world's best chip for self-driving cars
SEE ALSO: Ford will invest $500 million in Tesla rival Rivian, joining Amazon and going head-to-head with GM
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