MarketWatch Will Liveblog the Tesla Earnings Call (TSLA)

Most folks read faster than they listen and the official transcript won't be available until tomorrow so until then:

Tesla Motors Inc.  TSLA pumped up the faithful Wednesday, swinging to an adjusted fourth-quarter profit of $45.9 million, or 33 cents a share. The results far outpaced the 23 cents a share Wall Street was looking for.
    The Palo Alto, Calif.-based electric vehicle maker also topped revenue estimates. Including lease-deferred revenue from its Model S sedan, revenue rose 26% to $761.3 million, way ahead of the $684 million Wall Street predicted. 

And there was more. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had vowed to hit a 25% gross margin this past quarter. It came in at 25.2%.

For the quarter, Tesla said it delivered 6,892 vehicles, bringing its total for 2013 to 22,477. It exited the year with $2.5 billion in sales. For 2014, the company said it expects to deliver over 35,000 vehicles, also more than all but the most optimistic estimates from the analysts on Wall Street.

“As volume increases, additional economies of scale will come into play, resulting in further improvements in gross margin. We think an automotive gross margin of 28%, excluding ZEV (zero emission vehicle) credit sales, is a reasonable target for Q4 2014, even if a lower option take rate is assumed,” the company said in a statement accompanying the results.

As for opening new markets, Tesla said its first Model S deliveries to China will take place this spring and work will soon begin to build a “Supercharger” network there. Meanwhile, the company said it plans to gradually roll out right-hand drive Teslas for the British, Japanese, Hong Kong and Australian markets starting this spring.

After hitting all the right buttons, Tesla executives will be taking a victory lap in a conference call with analysts. MarketWatch will listen in and blog the call as it happens, starting at 2:30 pm Pacific Time (5:30 pm Eastern).

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