Elon Musk is set to give an update on future Tesla products. Here's what to expect.
- Elon Musk said he will give an updated product roadmap on Tesla's next earnings call.
- Tesla is set to report 2021 earnings on Wednesday.
Elon Musk sat out Tesla's last quarterly earnings call, but the CEO says he'll be back on Wednesday to give an update on the state of new vehicles coming down the pike.
You can never be too certain what Musk will say — that's kind of his brand. But he'll likely speak on future Tesla models that have been in development for years but haven't yet materialized.
After years of delays, Tesla fans, investors, and Wall Street analysts are all eager to learn when long-anticipated products like the Cybertruck pickup truck, the Semi truck, and the Roadster supercar will be rolling off of assembly lines. Wall Street analysts expect Tesla will post record revenue and profits for the fourth quarter of 2021, capping off the company's biggest year yet.
Here's what to expect from Tesla's earnings call next week, and what we may learn more about from Musk:
What Wall Street expects
As far as the balance sheet is concerned, analysts polled by Bloomberg expect the company to post quarterly profits of $2.30 per share on revenues of $16.6 billion. That would be a big jump from the previous quarter's figures of $1.86 per share and $13.8 billion.
Cybertruck
Earlier in January, Tesla said it would start building the Cybertruck by the end of 2022 and start mass production in 2023. When the Cybertruck debuted in late 2019, Musk said it would enter production in 2021.
There are some other details that need clearing up.
Tesla recently scrubbed its website of Cybertruck pricing and model options. And Musk tweeted out that the pickup will initially be shipped with four motors, one more than he initially promised.
How much the Cybertruck will cost and what sort of pickup buyers will receive is, at this point, up in the air. What we do know is that Tesla intends to build the pickup at its upcoming plant near Austin, Texas.
Roadster
Tesla's first model was the Roadster, a sports car that sold for around $100,000 starting in 2008. The next-generation Roadster, unveiled in 2017, was supposed to ship to customers in 2020 as "the quickest car in the world." Those buyers — who have paid from $50,000 to $250,000 to reserve their electric supercar — will have to keep waiting.
Musk recently said that Tesla should start pumping out Roadsters in 2023, "assuming 2022 is not mega drama." He's referring to the supply-chain tangles that have hobbled auto manufacturing since 2020.
Tesla recently erased the supercar's pricing from its website. So once again, there's a lot we don't know.
Semi
Tesla revealed the Roadster as a bonus during the debut of the Semi, a heavy-duty truck that the electric automaker also hasn't started mass producing yet.
In October, Musk said he was optimistic that the Semi would go into production in 2023, four years behind schedule. Tesla has said it needs to shore up its supply of battery cells before it can start building the Semi in significant numbers.
What else to expect
That's three models Tesla intends to start building in 2023. But there's probably even more on the way. Musk has mused about a cheaper, $25,000 vehicle along with a van for urban transit.
We may also learn more about when Tesla's upcoming plants in Germany and Austin, Texas will start pumping out cars. Musk also could touch on Tesla's developments in autonomous driving, solar panels, and energy storage.
And, since this is Musk we're talking about, it wouldn't be wrong to expect a curveball.