Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has announced that it would be posting its financial results for Q1 2019 after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. The company would be issuing a brief advisory with a link to its Q1 2019 Update Letter, which will be accessible from Tesla’s Investor Relations website. A live Q&A session is set for 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the electric car and energy company’s financial results and outlook.
Tesla’s Q1 2019 earnings call comes after a challenging quarter that saw electric car deliveries fall by around 30% compared to Q4 2018. In Q1 2019, Tesla produced a total of 77,100 vehicles, comprised of 62,950 Model 3 and 14,150 Model S and X. Deliveries reached a total of 63,000 vehicles, comprised of approximately 50,900 Model 3 and 12,100 Model S and X. At the end of the first quarter, Tesla had approximately 10,600 vehicles in transit to customers.
The drop in Tesla’s production and deliveries in the first quarter was met with notably bearish sentiments from Wall Street. RBC analysts called the results “very disappointing.” Cowen and Co analysts suggested that Tesla’s “cash was likely dangerously low” following the company’s payment of a $920 million convertible bond obligation in cash at the beginning of March. Analysts from JP Morgan noted that “Tesla’s 1Q19 vehicle production & deliveries report was substantially worse than expected.”
Despite its lower-than-expected delivery and production numbers, Tesla was still met with some optimism from its supporters. Canaccord Genuity analysts noted that while they were disappointed in the shortfall of deliveries in Q1, they “continue to believe that the new lower-priced Model 3 variant will spur additional demand.” Loup Ventures highlighted that it remained “focused on underlying demand” for the company’s vehicles like the Model 3. More recently, Nomura noted that while Tesla will likely have a challenging 2019, the electric car maker is nonetheless a “true disruptor” of the auto industry.
What is rather interesting is that Tesla is conducting its Q1 earnings call earlier than expected. Tesla usually releases its first-quarter earnings call in early May, as could be seen in the date of Q1 2018’s Q&A session. The company previously held earlier-than-expected earnings calls in October 2016, October 2018, and January 2019, and those quarters all proved to be profitable.
It should be noted that while the early date of Q1’s earnings call is a rather bullish sign, Elon Musk himself has been very conservative about the first quarter. When Tesla launched the $35,000 Standard Model 3 in March, Elon Musk noted that he does not expect the company to be profitable in the first quarter. “Given that there is a lot happening in Q1, and we are taking a lot of one time charges, there are a lot of challenges getting cars to China and Europe, we do not expect to be profitable. We do think that profitability in Q2 is likely,” the Tesla CEO said.
While it remains to be seen if Tesla is conducting its early first-quarter earnings call due to positive news on profitability, all eyes will be on the company as it is expected to release some updates on a number of its ongoing and upcoming projects, including Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, the $35,000 Standard Model 3, the Full Self-Driving suite, the Solar Roof, and updates on future products like the Tesla Pickup Truck and the Tesla Semi.
Tesla’s announcement for its Q1 2019 earnings call can be accessed here.
