Tesla sheds 5% after CE Elon Musk ducks questions from analysts
Investors punish maverick magnate for failing to tackle issues of profit potential related to Model 3 car project
San Francisco — Ducking analysts’ questions has a price: $2bn. Tesla investors gave a rare rebuke to CE Elon Musk on Wednesday after he cut off analysts asking about profit potential, sending shares down 5% despite promises that production of the troubled Model 3 electric car was on track. Tesla’s future depends on the Model 3 and the company said it had largely overcome production bottlenecks, with Musk vowing a dramatic turnaround that would reverse losses and generate positive cash flow in just a few months. Musk plans to shut down its factory in Fremont, California, for 10 days in the second quarter but said Tesla will meet the production target of 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of June, as planned, and will turn a profit in the second half of the year. To achieve profitability, Musk will have to reverse what today amounts to a $22,584 pretax loss per vehicle built by the Silicon Valley firm. Tesla posted its biggest quarterly loss when it announced first-quarter results on ...
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