*By Alisha Haridasani*
Tesla’s first-quarter earnings narrowly beat expectations Wednesday, bringing in $3.4 billion in revenue, up from about $3.3 billion in the previous quarter.
The car maker also posted a net loss of more than $780 million.
The news was positive for the electric carmaker in the areas that seemed to matter most to investors, said Jason Ware, the chief investment officer and chief economist at Albion Financial group. He cited the uptick in car production, specifically. "It seems that they've hit on all of the things that investors were looking for," Ware said in an interview with Cheddar.
The Model 3, Tesla's mass-market sedan was the main focus of the earnings report.
For months, the company was missing its own production targets for that car. The company produced just 1,000 units a week in December, below the company's target of 20,000 units per month. That worried investors that Tesla would run out of cash by the end of the year. (It is reported to be spending $6,500 per minute, according to [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-tesla-burns-cash/)). Tesla ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $2.7 billion, down by almost $1 billion from the previous quarter.
The company stated Wednesday that it expects to turn things around. In April, Tesla produced more than 2,000 units per week for three straight weeks, and the carmaker [told shareholders](http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-4CW8X0/6176011373x0x979026/44C49236-1FC2-4FD9-80B1-495ED74E4194/TSLA_Update_Letter_2018-1Q.pdf) it aims to more than double that number to 5,000 units per week in two months' time.
In their letter to shareholders, the chairman and CEO Elon Musk and Tesla's CFO Deepak Ahuja reiterated Musk's statement that the company could turn a profit by the end of the year.
But it would have to meet production goals for that happen, though, and the company has fallen well short of *those* in the past.
For the full segment, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/spotify-reports-for-the-first-time-and-tesla-reports-less-of-a-loss-than-expected).
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
