Tesla says it has enough cash to settle its $920 million bond payment

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc.

Tesla, which released its fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, assured investors that it has enough cash on hand to handle a large bond payment due in about five weeks.

“We have sufficient cash on hand to comfortably settle in cash our convertible bond that will mature in March 2019,” the company said.

Investors have been fretting over $920 million in bonds Tesla needs to repay by March 1. Bondholders can convert those bonds to equity if Tesla’s shares hit the strike price of $359.87. But on Wednesday shares were trading far below that, closing at $308.77. That means Tesla could have to pay millions in cash to settle the debt.