Shortfall foreseen, Tesla stock falls

Tesla Motors Inc. fell after a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst said the company may need at least $6 billion in capital as it builds a battery factory to boost production of its premium electric cars.

The automaker led by Elon Musk is targeting a 100,000-unit production pace by late next year and has an eventual goal to sell at least 500,000 cars annually. Tesla is building the factory to provide cheaper lithium-ion cells for its vehicles and has said the facility may cost as much as $5 billion. In March, it raised about $2.3 billion toward the plant, which is being built near Reno, Nev.

“With numerous projects laid out (as well as those not currently communicated) ahead for Tesla, we see a possible need for additional capital,” Goldman analyst Patrick Archambault wrote Friday in a research note.

Archambault, who has a neutral rating on Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla’s shares, said the bulk of his estimate for the company’s capital needs would be for 2017 through 2025.

Tesla hasn’t given a forecast for capital spending, spokesman Simon Sproule, said in an e-mail.

On Friday, the company’s stock fell 1.7 percent to $259.132 in New York after dropping as much as 2.8 percent during intradday trading. Shares had risen 75 percent this year through Thursday.

— Bloomberg News

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