On second thought, Tesla says it will raise an extra $400 million

A day after Tesla said it would raise $2.3 billion in stock and debt, the company said Friday it had decided to raise an extra $400 million. In a new set of regulatory filings Friday morning, the company increased the amount of cash it expects to raise by about 17.5%. Part of the increase is because of a slightly higher estimated price of the shares being sold. Shares gained 4% in trading Thursday after the initial capital raise was announced. But Tesla also plans to sell more shares of stock to the public, along with more debt that can be paid off with stock in the future if the share price can hit a certain target. Tesla (TSLA)’s stock was slightly higher in premarket trading. Although the additional shares will dilute the value of current Tesla shares, investors had been prepared for the capital raise since last week. Some may have been preparing for an even larger sale of shares. Some investors worried that the company could find itself in a cash crunch without a cash raise. “We view this as a clear net positive for Tesla,” said Daniel Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, in a note to clients Thursday. “The company needed to take its medicine and clear the air of the very real investor worries that the company would not having enough capital to meet its debt obligation this November and future [capital spending] needs.” CEO Elon Musk had insisted through much of the last year that the company was doing fine and would not need to raise additional cash. But a depressed stock price forced it to pay off a $920 million bond in March with cash rather than stock. That payment was a big factor in the company’s cash reserves falling by $1.5 billion during the quarter, leaving it with just over $2 billion in cash on its balance sheet. It also reported a $702 million loss in the quarter. After reporting results last week, Musk told investors that “at this point, I do think there … is some merit to raising capital.” The timing and the extent of that raise was not disclosed at that time. Tesla intends to use proceeds from the offerings to strengthen its balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes. Musk himself intends to buy $25 million of the shares once they are offered. That’s up from his original plan to purchase $10 million worth of shares. – Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated the number of shares that Musk intends to buy.