2017 has been busy for Tesla (TSLA -1.45%), and 2018 is looking to be even more so with its upcoming semi truck. In this segment from Industry Focus: Energy, Motley Fool analysts go over the biggest news from Tesla this year, from its Gigafactory to the Model 3 production delays and more.
A full transcript follows the video.
This video was recorded on Dec. 21, 2017.
Sarah Priestley: And another big electric maker, Tesla, had a huge year. Elon Musk describes the mass-market manufacturing of the company's lower-price Model 3 as production hell. He was forced to push back shipments by at least three months, and we found out in November that it was caused by a production bottleneck at the Gigafactory. So yeah, big year. They announced a new truck. The semi-truck was announced just last month.
Muckerman: A lot of buyers, apparently.
Priestley: Apparently, yeah.
Muckerman: They're going to be waiting a while.
Priestley: Yeah, I'm wondering to see how much of that is more of a marketing stunt. They bought and repositioned SolarCity. So a lot going on. A lot of money being lost.
Muckerman: Battery factory is online, the Gigafactory. A lot of money being lost. They need a high share price if they're going to continue issuing equity, and to have access to capital. If the share price does decide to turn south, then not only will they lose that lever, but the debt markets might also close up shop on them. This bull market has been great with the higher stock price for them.
Priestley: Yeah, absolutely. The company raised $1.2 billion from common shares and convertible notes this year. They also entered the junk bond market; they sold $1.8 billion of unsecured bonds. Interesting times for them. Definitely want to watch. As always, he's such an enigmatic character, Elon Musk. He makes for great commentating. I think the financial media would have a lot less to say if Tesla wasn't in play.
Muckerman: I just wish we had access to SpaceX, personally. Maybe next year. [laughs]
