From Forbes:
The Only Tesla Figure That Matters
Tesla Motors TSLA -5.4% will report its second-quarter results after the market close today, and investors who have driven the shares up more than 300 percent so far this year will be anxious to see whether the electric car manufacturer slipped back into the red after its first-ever quarterly profit.
Analysts are forecasting a loss of about 20 cents a share excluding some items, according to Bloomberg. They predict the Palo Alto, California-based company could see a 30 percent drop in revenue from the first quarter, when it recorded $561.8 million in sales.
There are a number of reasons Tesla could see an about-face, including a slowdown in its sale of regulatory credits to other automakers, the costs of expanding in Europe and the absence of last quarter’s boost from the early payoff of its government loan.
And lest we forget, despite its astonishing $15 billion market capitalization, Tesla is still a start-up company. It is likely to lose more money as it continues to invest in future growth.
That’s why I’d argue the most important figure to look for when Chief Executive Elon Musk announces results this evening is not the magnitude of Tesla’s profit or loss, but rather, its Model S production output for the quarter....MORE
