INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A little more than a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk handed over the first Model 3 electric vehicles to employees at a splashy event in
It been (production) hell ever since, a term Musk has used repeatedly in the past 12 months as the electric automaker struggled to ramp up
production of its most important vehicle to date.
Now, a month after Tesla hit a key milestone and producednearly 5,000 Model 3 cars in the
last week of June, investors, fans and critics are waiting to get a closer look at the company finances
Tesla is expected to report its second quarterly earnings after the market closes August 1
A conference call will be held at 2:30 pm PT.
Here what we&re looking for and what we hope to hear from Musk:
Conversions
Tesla has opened
the Model 3 waitlist floodgates and invited all reservation holders in the United States and Canada to order the electric sedan.
Tesla
might not share the number of reservations holders who have opted to ask for a refund or to go ahead and order a Model 3
But that figure would give insight on demand as well as help determine what obstacles lie ahead
For instance, a large number of reservations converting to orders might signal a rosy future for revenue as well as potential headwinds in
production and delivery times with the increased volume.
Those reservations also equal money
The company had $985 million in customer deposits, which includes the Model 3, at the end of the first quarter
Once a customer decides to buy a Model 3, their $1,000 deposit becomes non-refundable and another $2,500 payment is required to complete the
order.
Cash
The company did bring in record revenues in 2017— $11.8 billion in all
And first-quarter revenues of $3.4 billion were 26% higher than the previous quarter.
But revenue only tells part of the story.
A Bloomberg
analysis in May estimates Tesla is spendingmore than$7,430 every minute
Tesla free cash flow, which is the amount of cash it generates after accounting for capital expenditures, has been negative for six
consecutive quarters.
Tesla ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $2.67 billion, a $702 million drop from the previous quarter
Tesla saw its net debt increase $1.05 billion
The company outstanding debt is more than $10 billion.
And it doesn''t appear that the spending has slowed
The company is pulling skilled workers from a variety of departments to work on its vehicle and battery plants, sometimes flying them in
from out of state and housing them in hotels, CNBC reported Tuesday.
It just one of the extra costs Tesla is taking on to consistently
produce 5,000 or more Model 3 sedans a week if it hopes to be profitable.
Teslareported in the first quartera net loss of $$784.6 million,
or $4.19 per share.
China
China has the potential to be a key market for Tesla
The automakerreached a deal in July with the Shanghai government to build a factory capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a
year.
The factory would be the automaker second assembly plant and aimed at serving the alluring Chinese market.
Watch (or listen) for more
information on Tesla factory plans for China, including the potential financial strains it will place on the company
Tesla hasn''t provided an estimate of what the factory might cost to build
That a critical data point for Tesla, which has been burning through cash as it tries to ramp up production of itsModel 3 vehicle.
Cool
head
Musk combative behavior during the previous earnings call in May and erratic tweets has even supportive investors taking note.
For
better or worse, Tesla and Musk are inextricably linked
In the past, Musk frankness during calls and his late-night tweets has been celebrated
But patience has grown thin with some in recent weeks, including analysts.
Earnings calls have become a gauge, not just of how the company
is holding up, but for its leader as well.
