News-Investor.com: The usually forthcoming Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) is keeping some big secrets. On a conference call with analysts late Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted at some surprises ahead from the high-end electric carmaker.
"In the past, we've shown all of our cards. So people have kind of gotten used to us showing all of our cards," Musk said. "We're not currently showing all our cards."
Musk's comments were made when asked to discuss the company's heavy investment in research and development and capital expenditures.
"Our capex and R&D numbers are better than they appear because there are things you don't know about," Musk said.
Tesla's ramp-up of capital expenditures and R&D pinched the company's profitability in the second quarter.
Late Thursday, Tesla reported Q2 results that beat Wall Street's targets. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said its sales rose 55% from the June quarter last year to $858 million. But Tesla's adjusted earnings per share fell 45% to 11 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Tesla to earn 4 cents a share on sales of $811 million.
So, what sort of innovations does Tesla have up its sleeve? Tesla's charismatic CEO isn't saying. Perhaps it's the self-driving Tesla car recently shown on the CBS science-fiction TV series "Extant." The future-set show starring Halle Berry features Tesla's Model S and has shown a prototype Model X sport utility vehicle.
Self-driving cars are a major future market for tech companies. Google and just-public Mobileye are among the companies pursuing the autonomous-car opportunity.
Tesla is looking at semi-autonomous car technology, which could handle most driving, particularly on highways. Musk previously has said that Tesla would lead the way in autonomous driving. Speaking with analysts in February, Musk talked about having an "autopilot" mode that could handle driving for a period of time.
Tesla currently only makes the Model S sedan. It expects to start selling the Model X crossover SUV in spring 2015 and a cheaper, mass-market Model 3 car in 2017.
Tesla stock jumped more than 3% to near 231 on the stock market today, even as the major market averages continued to retreat.
Tesla said it plans to ramp up production from 35,000 vehicles this year to an annualized pace of 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2015.
It announced a two-week shutdown in production starting next week to retool a factory line to make it more efficient by adding more robotic manufacturing gear.
Tesla plans to produce 9,000 cars in Q3 and deliver about 7,800 Model S vehicles. Without the retooling, Tesla likely could have made about 11,000 cars and delivered 9,500, Musk said. It delivered 7,579 Model S cars in Q2, up 17% from Q1.
Another secret is where Tesla plans to build its gigafactory for making lithium-ion car batteries. Musk said the company is evaluating sites in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas and should make an announcement in the next few months.
He noted that Tesla has prepared a site for possible factory construction near Reno, Nevada, and plans to do similar site preparation in one or two other states.
Panasonic announced on Thursday that it's a partner in the new factory, which could employ 6,500 people.
"In the past, we've shown all of our cards. So people have kind of gotten used to us showing all of our cards," Musk said. "We're not currently showing all our cards."
Musk's comments were made when asked to discuss the company's heavy investment in research and development and capital expenditures.
"Our capex and R&D numbers are better than they appear because there are things you don't know about," Musk said.
Tesla's ramp-up of capital expenditures and R&D pinched the company's profitability in the second quarter.
Late Thursday, Tesla reported Q2 results that beat Wall Street's targets. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said its sales rose 55% from the June quarter last year to $858 million. But Tesla's adjusted earnings per share fell 45% to 11 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Tesla to earn 4 cents a share on sales of $811 million.
So, what sort of innovations does Tesla have up its sleeve? Tesla's charismatic CEO isn't saying. Perhaps it's the self-driving Tesla car recently shown on the CBS science-fiction TV series "Extant." The future-set show starring Halle Berry features Tesla's Model S and has shown a prototype Model X sport utility vehicle.
Self-driving cars are a major future market for tech companies. Google and just-public Mobileye are among the companies pursuing the autonomous-car opportunity.
Tesla is looking at semi-autonomous car technology, which could handle most driving, particularly on highways. Musk previously has said that Tesla would lead the way in autonomous driving. Speaking with analysts in February, Musk talked about having an "autopilot" mode that could handle driving for a period of time.
Tesla currently only makes the Model S sedan. It expects to start selling the Model X crossover SUV in spring 2015 and a cheaper, mass-market Model 3 car in 2017.
Tesla stock jumped more than 3% to near 231 on the stock market today, even as the major market averages continued to retreat.
Tesla said it plans to ramp up production from 35,000 vehicles this year to an annualized pace of 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2015.
It announced a two-week shutdown in production starting next week to retool a factory line to make it more efficient by adding more robotic manufacturing gear.
Tesla plans to produce 9,000 cars in Q3 and deliver about 7,800 Model S vehicles. Without the retooling, Tesla likely could have made about 11,000 cars and delivered 9,500, Musk said. It delivered 7,579 Model S cars in Q2, up 17% from Q1.
Another secret is where Tesla plans to build its gigafactory for making lithium-ion car batteries. Musk said the company is evaluating sites in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas and should make an announcement in the next few months.
He noted that Tesla has prepared a site for possible factory construction near Reno, Nevada, and plans to do similar site preparation in one or two other states.
Panasonic announced on Thursday that it's a partner in the new factory, which could employ 6,500 people.
