Mike Blake/Reuters
Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
- Tesla is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the markets' close in Wednesday.
- Analysts expect a big loss for Tesla, but also an improving topline relative to Q2 2017 and Q1 2018.
- Much attention will be focused on how CEO Elon Musk handles himself when he takes analysts questions after earnings are reported.
Tesla will report second-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Wall Street expectation are for a loss of around $2.88 per share, on revenue of nearly $4 billion.
Tesla has rarely posted positive quarterly earnings, so the loss shouldn't be a shock, and the topline should come in much higher than a year ago.
In fact, the second quarter is something of a replay of the first, when Tesla actually beat expectations with a narrower loss than anticipated, on higher-than-predicted revenue.
At that time, Tesla shares remained stable until the subsequent conference call with analysts, when CEO Elon Musk threw a now-infamous tantrum and sent the stock spiraling down.
Since then, Musk's conduct - and particularly his controversial tweeting - has been the subject of much discussion and investor consternation. Tesla shares, however, have been in a holding pattern, hanging out around $300. The stock has been effectively flat for the past three months, despite some moves up and down.
A few factors are obvious and will weigh on the reaction to Wednesday's results. Tesla is building more vehicles as it ramps up production of its Model 3 sedan. The topline is staged for dramatic improvement in the second half - a period when Musk has said the company will swing to a profit. And the cash-burn remains intense, but Tesla hasn't run out of money yet.
Let's dive into a further breakdown of the key issues:
Get the latest Tesla stock price here.