Elon Musk, founder, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, speaks at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters Tesla on Wednesday reported a smaller quarterly loss than expected and said production of its Model 3 sedan remained on track to hit targets.

The electric-car maker reported a loss of $1.33 per adjusted share on revenue of $2.79 billion. Analysts had forecast Tesla lost $1.88 per share and earned $2.51 billion in revenue, according to Bloomberg.

The results came after Tesla's big event on Friday to launch the mass-market Model 3.

In the earnings letter, Tesla said it averaged over 1,800 net Model 3 reservations daily and was confident it could produce just over 1,500 vehicles in the third quarter. Deliveries to non-Tesla employees would start in the fourth quarter, Tesla said.

Tesla had said it planned to produce 500,000 vehicles annually by 2018 and would ramp up costs to meet that goal. The company burned through $1.16 billion in cash in the second quarter, up from $144 million a year before.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Baird were focused on vehicle demand, especially since the Model 3 could cannibalize Tesla's older cars.

"Although too early to draw strong conclusions, we are seeing an even further increase in net Model S orders since the July 28th event," Tesla said.

It hasn't been a great year for traders who bet against Tesla's stock, as its price has surged 52% year-to-date through Wednesday's market close. Short interest in Tesla — or bets that its shares would fall — fell to the lowest level in more than two and a half years relative to shares outstanding, according to data compiled by IHS Markit.

Tesla shares gained as much as 3% in extended trading after the results crossed.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taunted short sellers on Twitter but has had to defend the company's $53 billion valuation.