Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) Announces May 4 As Earnings Release Date; Here’s The Forecast

Tesla Motors has set May 4 as the date when it will release its financial results for the first three months of the year, the company said Wednesday. The report, which will arrive after markets close that day in New York City, will address progress the company is making on the rollout of its Model X unity vehicle.

The recent unveiling of the lower-priced Model 3 electric compact sedan -- which led to roughly 400,000 pre-orders at $1,000 apiece this month -- also drew a much-needed cash influx. But CEO Elon Musk's company will need to raise more capital, which might be a center of discussion during a live webcast between Tesla’s leadership and analysts at 5:30 p.m. EDT after the results are released.

Musk will likely be asked about Monday’s Consumer Reports review citing a number of quality issues with “early build” Model X vehicles. Earlier this month, Tesla said it delivered nearly 15,000 vehicles in the first quarter, with Model S electric sedan sales jumping 45 percent compared to the same period last year.

In order to meet its goal of delivering at least 80,000 vehicles this year, Tesla will need to average about 21,700 vehicles per quarter for the rest of the year, so Musk will likely address questions about whether this target can be reached.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the 13-year-old Silicon Valley electric car maker to report a narrower loss of 86 cents per share for the three months ending March 31, from a loss of $1.22 for the same period last year. Adjusted for Tesla’s non-GAAP accounting, losses are expected to widen to 61 cents per share from 36 cents in the year-ago period.

Revenue is expected to grow to $1.61 billion, from $1.10 billion in the same period last year.

Investors are less interested in the company’s losses – it’s spending massively to grow its operations – and more interested in revenue growth. Sales targets are also important, most notably how many Model X cars the company is building each week. Analysts are also paying close attention to gross profit margins excluding the revenue the company receives from California carbon emission credits paid by other automakers.