As a response to a report published by The Economist, which says that according to a bank named Jefferies, Tesla would need to raise $2.5 to $3 billion worth of additional capital this year, Elon Musk took to Twitter to state that Tesla is expecting a positive flow of cash in the third and fourth quarter of 2018, and the business is expected to remain profitable. Apart from claiming that Tesla will continue remaining profitable, Musk has also scoffed at The Economist by saying, “The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it’s just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable & cash flow+ in Q3 & Q4, so obv no need to raise money.”
While Musk’s tweet rings with positivity, and the Q1 production and delivery report is optimistic, many critics are still claiming that the company will be unable to meet its production goals for Model 3 and shall be required to raise cash this year.
David Tamberrino of Goldman Sachs noted last Tuesday that Tesla would be able to maintain a production rate for the Model 3 equal to around 1,400 per week, and he cut the 12-month price target for TSLA, bringing it down from $205 to $195, implying a 32% downside.
However, this note from Goldman Sachs’ equity research division stands in stark contrast to their investment division, which has been steadily investing in Tesla, notes HyperChange TV host Galileo Russell. Goldman Sachs’ investment bank owns more than $330 million worth of TSLA stocks, making it one of Tesla’s most prominent institutional investors. During Q4 2017 alone, Goldman Sachs bought more than 470,000 shares of Tesla.
The positive tweet and reports of Musk aiming to start the production of Model Y as early as 2019 show that he is truly confident about Tesla’s profitability in the coming quarters.
Musk also tweeted about the availability of residential Powerwall 2 units, the home battery storage system, whose demand has been higher than expected. He noted that Tesla is manufacturing the Powerwall 2 “as fast as possible,” but the waitlist for the product is 3-6 months.
