Tesla Posts Massive Q1 Loss - Solar and Car Sales Down - This Time It Was No Surprise

Tesla's Q1 loss is staggering, but investors had fair warning.

Tesla has just announced its financial results for Q1 and they are horrible. The company which focuses almost exclusively on taxpayer-subsidized green products including solar panels and luxury/performance electric cars isn't doing well in any of its divisions. The net result was a $0.7 billion loss this past quarter. If that is a surprise to anyone who follows or invests in Tesla it shouldn't be.

Tesla Car Sales Slump
In the first quarter, Tesla's vehicle deliveries slumped. Not by comparison to last year's Q1. That was before the Model 3 production was sorted out. Rather, the rate at which Tesla delivered cars since the middle of last year suddenly dropped off. Tesla says that is because it is sending cars to other markets aside from the U.S. However, nobody is forcing to Tesla to load its EVs onto fossil-fuel-gulping pollution-spewing cargo ships in a global search for buyers. Unless of course, Tesla feels that it has tapped out the U.S. market. Which is worse if you are a Tesla fan? We know that EVangelists may not trust us as a source of Tesla sales info, so here is a New York Times story on Tesla's sales.

- Related Story: Tesla Begins Shipping Thousands of Model 3 Cars To Europe Via Massively Polluting Fossil Fuel-Powered Ships

Tesla Solar Business Slumps
We won't pretend to be experts following Tesla's failing Solar City power generation business. We just like taking pictures of all the gasoline-powered vehicles they use. Tesla is now installing less solar capacity than it did at its previous low point in 2014. The State Of California is doing its part by mandating solar on all new homes. Heck, with the feds offering up massive price supports and sunny states mandating the use of a product how could one go wrong? Yet, Tesla's solar business is going down.

Investors Had Ample Warning
Lost in the noise about imaginary semi trucks, imaginary compact crossovers, and electric leaf blowers, Tesla's actual products are declining in sales. The company's stock is now lower than it has been in two years. There is no shortage of Tesla truth-tellers in the mainstream media, the green energy media, the financial media, and the automotive media. Anyone surprised by Tesla's financial results must have been trapped in a cave or enjoying a little too much medicine at 4:20.

Notes:
Tesla Stock graph courtesy of NASDAQ and Google.
The author has never owned or traded Tesla stock.