Tesla notes 4Q, 2016 losses; Model 3 on track

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tesla Inc. lost $674.9 million on $7 billion in sales last year and lost $121.3 million for the fourth quarter on $2.2 billion in sales, the company said Wednesday.

Annual revenue rose 73 percent thanks to 76,230 deliveries of the company's Model S and Model X electric luxury vehicles.

Given the company's grand ambitions and billions in capital investments required to achieve them, the losses were expected, although analysts differed widely on how much the company would lose.

Tesla's earnings results, released after the markets closed, for the first time included SolarCity, the rooftop solar-cell company Tesla bought in November. Because the numbers include only performance since the merger, they had little effect on the totals.

The company's stock rose 3 percent in after-hours trading.

The company also announced that the new midmarket Model 3 is on schedule for initial production in July and volume production by September. Some investors and analysts were worried the Model 3 might be behind schedule.

Tesla said production has begun at its Gigafactory on battery packs for its cars and for electrical storage at homes, businesses and utilities.

The company intends to produce 500,000 vehicles annually by the end of 2018 and 1 million vehicles by 2020. Small buses, trucks and a small SUV may be added to the mix of products, the company has said.

In October, the company announced a rare profit for the third quarter, weeks before shareholders of Tesla and SolarCity were to vote to approve the merger.

Business on 02/23/2017

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