Tesla’s Q3 2014 earnings report: What to look for $TSLA

Later this afternoon, all eyes will be on Tesla as the automaker is slated  to release its Q3 2014 earnings report.

The consensus on Wall St. is that Tesla will report a loss of $0.01 a share on revenue of $892 million. On the low end of the earnings spectrum, one analyst anticipates a loss of $0.15 a share while, on the high end, one analyst anticipates earnings to check in at $0.10 a share. During Tesla’s third quarter last year, the company reported earnings of $0.12 per share.

Financial figures aside, it’ll be interesting to keep a close eye on the number of Model S vehicles delivered for the quarter, with analysts expecting the figure to check in at 7,800 units. By way of comparison, Tesla, during the same quarter a year-ago, delivered 5,500 Model S vehicles. Last quarter, Tesla delivered 7,579 Model S vehicles.

Now given that Tesla is able to sell Model S vehicles as fast as they can make them, it stands to reason that the company may very well surpass the 7,800 estimate. What’s more, recall that a right-hand drive version of the Model S went on sale in the UK and in Hong Kong this past summer. Naturally, both of these launches will help boost overall sales figures for the quarter.

You might also recall that Elon Musk, in response to a WSJ article claiming that Tesla Model S sales were slumping, tweeted out the following about a week ago.

Article in @WSJ re Tesla sales is incorrect. September was a record high WW and up 65% year-over-year in North America.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2014

An earnings call will follow Tesla’s earnings report where we will hopefully gain some more information regarding the highly anticipated Model X, the newly christened Gigafactory, and of course, the even more hotly anticipated Model 3.