Raindrops are seen next to the Tesla logo
David GannonAFP via Getty Images
Electric vehicle maker Tesla reports earnings after the close of trading Wednesday. Tesla stock is up—a lot—lately, raising the bar for what investors expect and increasing the odds for post-earnings stock volatility. Here’s what to expect when Tesla reports numbers, along with some recent history.
Wall Street expects Tesla (ticker: TSLA) to earn about $1.67 a share from $13.9 billion. Estimates have been rising since the company reported better than expected third-quarter vehicle deliveries. A month ago, analysts projected $1.45 in per-share earnings from $13.1 billion in sales.
Tesla delivered about 241,000 vehicles in the third quarter, up from about 201,000 delivered in the second quarter. Tesla reported $1.45 in per-share earnings from $12 billion in sales for the second quarter.
In the earnings release, analysts and investors will be paying close attention to gross profit margins. Tesla sold about 12,000 more cars in China from its Shanghai plant during the third quarter. That should help boost margins. Locally made cars tend to be more profitable. But the global semiconductor shortage and rising shipping costs have the potential to hurt margins. For now, Wall Street expects gross profit margins to be, essentially, flat with the second quarter at about 24%.
On the earnings conference call, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, analysts and investors, will want to hear about how the chip shortage is developing and when relief might come. They will also want to hear about the ramp-up of new capacity in Germany and Texas, as well as the outlook for deliveries in the fourth quarter and in 2022.
Tesla is also rolling out new versions of the company’s autonomous driving software. Investors will want to hear about how the new features are performing.
CEO Elon Musk, however, might not weigh in. He said on the company’s second-quarter conference call that he skip them in the future. No one knows for sure.
Coming into Wednesday, Tesla stock is up about 31% since the company reported second-quarter numbers in late July. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are up about 2% and 1%, respectively over the same span.
It’s been quite a recent run for Tesla stock. Tesla bulls hope that continues after earnings.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
