Tesla stock slides after Elon Musk warns it won't be profitable
- Tesla will not be profitable in Q1 as it was in its previous two quarters, CEO Elon Musk said Thursday.
- The guidance comes the same afternoon as Tesla said the $35,000 version of its Model 3 was available for pre-order.
- Shares sank as much as 4% in after-hours trading. Follow the stock in real-time here.
Shares of Tesla sank as much as 4% in after-hours trading Thursday, according to Markets Insider data, after CEO Elon Musk warned the company may not be profitable in the first quarter of 2019.
"We do not expect to be profitable in Q1 but profitability in Q2 is likely," Musk said on a conference call Thursday.
His comments come after two consecutive quarters of profitability, a first in the company's history, and on the same day as Tesla announced the long-awaited $35,000 version of its Model 3 was finally available to order.
More from Tesla's big news announcement:
- Tesla is finally releasing the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3
- Tesla is shuttering most of its stores as the company switches to an online-only sales model