Tesla lowers 2015 delivery prediction, sort of

As usual, Tesla's latest shareholder letter is full of confidence and a positive outlook for the future. The headline number is 11,532, which is how many vehicles the California automaker delivered in the second quarter of 2015. That's a new record for the company. In the first quarter, Tesla delivered 10,045 vehicles.

Elon Musk called the Model X the hardest car in the world to build.

Tesla also said it is, "now targeting deliveries of between 50,000 and 55,000 Model S and Model X cars in 2015." In the last shareholder letter issued three months ago, Tesla said its prediction for 2015 was 55,000. Tesla does offer a reason for the decline (of sorts), saying that since the new Model X and the Model S will be built on the same production line, "Model X production challenges could slow Model S production." Therefore, "in a choice between a great product or hitting quarterly numbers, we will take the former." CEO Elon Musk, speaking on a conference call with investors, called the Model X the hardest car in the world to build. Even so, Tesla confirmed that the Model X remains on schedule for September. Musk said that demand for the X is "really crazy" without really any marketing, so "there's probably room to improve."

Looking further ahead, the first deliveries the Model 3 are now expected in late 2017, with the reveal of that vehicle happening in the first quarter of 2016. Despite the work that will happen on that important car, the company said it expects production and demand to be steady in 2016, with demand of 1,600 to 1,800 vehicles per week for the Model S and Model X combined. The planned capacity will be 1,000 of each per week, Musk said. While he admitted it was a bit early to speculate, Musk did say that in three-to-five years, Tesla might look at opening plants in Europe and/or Asia to build cars in the markets where they're sold.

Tesla' net loss nearly tripled to $184 million in the second quarter as it spent heavily to prepare for the launch of the Model X. Tesla said it's not totally confident that suppliers will be able to match its production demands, yet another reason for the lowered expectations for its total annual sales this year.

Tesla's revenue rose 24 percent to $954.9 million. Tesla's net loss, of $1.45 per share, was wider than the loss of 50 cents per share a year ago. Tesla says unadjusted figures do not reflect its true performance because accounting rules limit how it records revenue for leases. On an adjusted basis, the company lost $61 million, or 48 cents per share, in the April-June period. That beat Wall Street's forecast of a 60 cent loss per share, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Then there's the money Tesla makes that doesn't have anything to do with selling cars. Tesla said it made $14 million came from the sale of ZEV credits in the second quarter of 2015, out of a total of $27 million in regulatory credit revenue. While Tesla stock climbed up today to $270.13 (an increase of $3.85, or 1.45 percent), it trended down in aftermarket trading. As of this writing, TLSA is down $13.12, or 4.86 percent. We'll have more details from Telsa's conference call with investors soon. Until then, you can read more in the investor letter gallery below.

The AP contributed to this report.