Tesla loses another $675 million in Q4, its biggest quarterly loss yet

Enlarge / Ljubljana, Slovenia - October 13, 2016: Tesla car supercharger machine at Supercharger Station glowing at night (credit: Getty Images)

As expected, Tesla saw some pretty big losses this quarter, mostly related to Model 3 delays. The company reported $675 million in losses attributable to shareholders in Q4, wrapping up 2017 with almost $2 billion in losses for the whole year.

But, unlike other doomed companies posting dire losses quarter after quarter, Tesla revenues have been sizable. Just this quarter, Tesla earned $3.3 billion in revenues from automotive sales, leasing, energy products, and services. For the year, the company reported almost $12 billion in revenue. People want Tesla products, but Tesla can't stop spending more money than it has.

The company (naturally) contends that all losses are temporary. "At some point in 2018, we expect to begin generating positive quarterly operating income on a sustained basis," the company stated in its investor letter. Musk specified in the accompanying earnings call that he expected the company to be profitable by the more stringent Generally Accepted Accounting Principles this year.

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