Morgan Stanley expects wider quarterly loss for Tesla

LONDON (ShareCast) - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Tesla Motors (Xetra: A1CX3T - news) fell on Tuesday, after analysts at Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) said they expected a wider first quarter adjusted loss for the electric vehicles manufacturer. In a note on Tuesday, the brokerage said it expected a first quarter loss of 77 cents per share, against consensus expectations of a loss of approximately 48 cents per share, translating in an annual loss of $2.30 per share compared with Wall Street's estimates of earnings of 58 cents per share.

Morgan Stanley said it expected the California-based group to post annual earnings of $1.40 per share in 2016, short of expectations of $3.99 per share.

The investment bank, which reiterated its 'overweight' rating on the stock, added it expected Tesla's gross margins to fall in the second half of the year as the company increases production of its new SUV, Model X.

Tesla shares, which have risen 7.5% in the past three months, were down 1.60% to $206.32 at 10:58 in New York on Tuesday.