Investing.com - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported mixed fourth-quarter results, with earnings that missed analysts' expectations on Wednesday and revenue that topped forecasts.
But the stock managed a slight gain in after-hours trading as the company said it expects a consistent profit beyond the first quarter.
Tesla said it was optimistic it could make a first-quarter profit and expected to generate a profit and positive free cash flow consistently beyond the first quarter as it ramps up production of its Model 3 sedan.
The company reported earnings per share of $1.93 on revenue of $7.22 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $2.19 on revenue of $7.13 billion. That compared to EPS of $-3.04 on revenue of $3.29 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Tesla spooked investors at the start of the month when it reported delivery of 90,700 vehicles for the fourth quarter, up 8% from the third quarter but shy of Wall Street estimates.
The automaker also announced than was cutting prices on all models by $2,000 to offset the reduction in electric vehicle tax credits.
Later in the month, CEO Elon Musk announced he was cutting Tesla’s workforce by 7%.
Tesla also said today its optimistic target was to achieve a very small GAAP net income in the first quarter.
The company said, barring unexpected challenges with Gigafactory Shanghai, it was targeting annualized Model 3 output of more than 500,000 units sometime between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.