Tesla posts quarterly loss as it spends on battery-power sedan

Tesla Motors Inc., the U.S. electric carmaker backed by Toyota Motor Corp. and Daimler AG, posted a third-quarter loss excluding some costs of 37 cents a share, less than analysts forecast.

The maker of battery-powered Roadster sports cars said in a statement that its adjusted loss widened to $34.2 million in the period ended Sept. 30 from $4.1 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. The average estimated loss from four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 43 cent a share. Revenue fell to $31.2 million from $45.5 million.

Given Tesla’s plans to spend heavily over the next nine quarters to get the Model S sedan into production, “attaining quarterly profitability isn’t a goal,” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said today on a conference call. “We’re very focused on long-term profitability.”

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, intends to become the auto industry’s leader in battery-powered cars, aided by supply agreements with Toyota and Daimler. The company is revamping a former Toyota joint-venture factory in Fremont, California, that’s scheduled to begin making the $57,400 Model S by mid-2012.

Tesla shares fell 14 cents to $24.49 in late trading at 5:47 p.m. New York time after the results were released. Earlier they slipped 35 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $24.63 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has risen 45 percent since an initial public offering on June 28.