Liam Denning, Columnist

Tesla's Working Capital Must Work Hard To Make 2018 Work

Faster Model 3 production will mitigate cash burn and make it easier to ask for more.

February 9, 2018 at 2:27 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

1518186680_GettyImages-456967754 — Photographer: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

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Tesla's free cash flow is usually a tragedy in three acts. Early on, analysts forecast a big improvement a couple of years out. Then, the mood darkens and the cutting begins. In the closing scene, Tesla unveils a reality far worse than was imagined (curiously, the stock-holding audience quite often claps regardless).

But this week's results delivered a plot twist: