*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).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
