Tesla falls in premarket as 4Q results hurt by delayed shipments and a stronger dollar

Tesla's stock is sliding in premarket trading Thursday as the electric car maker's fourth-quarter performance was stung by delayed shipments and a stronger dollar.

On Wednesday Tesla reported an adjusted loss of 13 cents per share and adjusted revenue of $1.1 billion. This fell short of the forecasts of analysts polled by FactSet, who were looking for a profit of 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.23 billion.

Tesla said that during the period there was a delay in shipments of its new all-wheel-drive Model S sedan. The Palo Alto, California, company said it held back shipments of its new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S sedan — which was launched in November — to make sure it would meet customers' expectations. While it was able to make up production later in the quarter, it was unable to ship about 1,400 vehicles in December.

Brad Erickson of Pacific Crest Securities said in a client note that "the delivery shortfall does raise execution concerns." But the analyst said that Tesla is growing more than 60 percent this year and may grow 80 percent to 90 percent next year, so he doesn't believe the current valuation represents the company's longer-term opportunity.

Erickson kept an "Outperform" rating.

Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. dropped $17.80, or 8.4 percent, to $195 in premarket trading about two hours before the market open.