When Tesla badly missed expectations when it reported fourth-quarter earnings in February, CEO Elon Musk promised better days ahead. When the company reports first-quarter earnings today after the close, investors and analysts will want an update on whether Tesla is on track to reach those better days.
A big question: Will the Model X begin shipping this summer, as Musk has said? Bloomberg points out that the rollout of the crossover SUV has been delayed twice.
It will be important for Tesla to show that its days of production delays are behind it. Also, Model X sales figure into the company s projection that it will sell 55,000 cars in 2015. Jeremy Owens wrote in February that a Kelley Blue Book analyst said there wasn t really a lot of supporting evidence that 55,000 is going to happen, especially if you apply some rational analysis.
Here are some of the numbers we do know: Tesla announced in April that it sold 10,030 Model S sedans in the first quarter, beating its own estimate of 9,500 cars. The company said during the last earnings call that it has 10,000 orders for the Model S and 20,000 for the Model X.
Other things to watch besides vehicle deliveries: Will Tesla say anything about its newly unveiled batteries for homes and businesses? About how the company will handle increased battery production before the Gigafactory in Nevada is completed? There also are questions about Tesla s business in China, where sales have been slow. (Musk and at least one analyst have dismissed those concerns as overblown. ) And the company recently started selling used cars — will that have enough impact on revenue?
Analysts polled by FactSet expect Tesla to post a loss of 50 cents a share on revenue of $1.04 billion.
Photo: Drivers test an all-wheel-drive version of the Model S electric sedan in Los Angeles on Oct. 9, 2014. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
