Tesla (TSLA -3.25%) is taking advantage of its lofty share price to raise cash.
The California electric-vehicle maker said in a series of regulatory filings on Tuesday that it has entered into agreements with several investment banks to sell up to $5 billion worth of its stock.
Tesla's stock price has surged in 2020, rising over 500% amid intense investor interest in electric-vehicle companies and after the company's sales proved more resilient than expected amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Tesla's stock sale is an "at-the-market" offering, meaning that the company, via investment banks, will sell its newly issued shares over time at market prices.
Tesla said that it will use the cash raised via this offering to strengthen its balance sheet and for "general corporate purposes," meaning that it has no other specific purpose in mind as of this moment.
It's not clear what Tesla might do with the funds raised via this offering, aside from bolstering its balance sheet. The company has several cash-intensive projects under way or pending, including construction of a new factory in Germany and a long-planned expansion of its Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada.
But while Tesla has ambitious plans for expansion, the company isn't in urgent need of cash at the moment. As of its most recent quarterly report, Tesla had $8.6 billion in cash on hand, versus about $7.8 billion in long-term debt.
