Investing.com - Automaker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported a first-quarter loss that was much wider than analysts' expectations on Wednesday. Revenue also fell short of forecasts.
The company, which makes electric-powered vehicles, reported a loss of $2.90 per share on revenue of $4.54 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com expected a loss of just $0.87 on revenue of $5.46 billion. That compared to a loss of $3.35 per share on revenue of $3.41 billion in the same period a year earlier.
But despite the big miss, Tesla shares rose 1.14% in after-hours trading. They'd fallen 2% in regular trading and are down about 22% this year.
The company had reported earlier that it was having problems with vehicle deliveries. In its vehicle deliveries update, the company said unforeseen challenges necessitated number of vehicle deliveries to shift to the second quarter.
But the company also reaffirmed its full-year deliveries guidance with the report.
"Although we are driving towards higher internal goals, we reaffirm our prior guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries in 2019, representing an increase of approximately 45% to 65% compared to 2018," Tesla said.
The automaker said it would return to a profit in the third quarter of 2019 after racking up two consecutive losses in the first half of the year as it launched a cheaper version of its Model 3 sedan.
The company, which Wall Street suspects may soon have to raise more cash, said it ended the quarter with just $2.2 billion in cash, after paying off a $920 million convertible bond obligation in March.
"As the impact of higher deliveries and cost reduction take full effect, we expect to return to profitability in Q3 and significantly reduce our loss in Q2," Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a letter to investors.
The company has weathered a challenging few months, marked by a sharp drop in the number of vehicles delivered to global customers during the quarter and a public spat between Musk and financial regulators.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.