Cars and Drivers

Has Tesla Got Enough to Fund Its Model 3?

Chris Lange

Published: June 26, 2017 10:00 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 10:42 am

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is looking for funding again. This is the second time in roughly six months that Elon Musk is trying to power his electric car.

According to a regulatory filing Friday, Tesla has expanded its credit agreements by a combined $800 million to $3.825 billion. Tesla ramped up its credit lines in December and raised money through equity and debt offerings in March to reinforce its balance sheet.

All this seems to be for the production of its Model 3 sedan.

Ultimately, Tesla plans to price its base level Model 3 around $35,000. And this very well could be the car that makes or breaks this company.

Tesla has been losing money for years, but this capital injection could spur the production that Tesla needs to turn a profit, or at least get close to breaking even.

For those that want to get technical, the filing said:

On June 19, 2017, Tesla, Inc. (the “Company”) and its subsidiary Tesla Motors Netherlands B.V. (“Tesla B.V.” and together with the Company, collectively, the “Borrowers”), entered into the Sixth Amendment (the “Credit Agreement Amendment”) to the ABL Credit Agreement, dated as of June 10, 2015 (as amended, modified or supplemented, the “Credit Agreement”), among the Borrowers, the lenders party thereto, and Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, as administrative agent and collateral agent, and the other agents party thereto.  The Credit Agreement Amendment increased the revolving commitments under the Credit Agreement by $625 million, thereby increasing the total revolving commitments from $1.2 billion to $1.825 billion, and also amended the Credit Agreement to permit the Borrowers to obtain up to $175 million of additional incremental commitments for potential total revolving commitments of up to $2.0 billion, subject to the terms and conditions of the Credit Agreement.

Shares of Tesla were up about 0.6% at $385.88 early Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $286.50 and a 52-week range of $178.19 to $386.99.