SolarCity Corp. reported a third-quarter loss of $225.3 million on sales of just $201 million, eight days before shareholders vote on its planned merger with Tesla Motors Inc.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based solar panel-installer narrowly beat analyst expectations, and the financial results were slightly better than the same period of last year when the company posted a loss of $234.3 million on $114 million in revenue.

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