Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) said Tuesday that it will release its fiscal third-quarter 2014 results on Wednesday, November 5 after the market close. The company will also hold a live Q&A webcast at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern) to discuss its quarterly results and outlook. The company expects to be “marginally profitable” in the September quarter.
Tesla’s gross margins expected to decline from Q2
Analysts on average expect Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s Q3 revenue to jump 48.30% YoY to $893.60 million with earnings of one cent per share. The company had incurred a loss of $0.12 per share in the same quarter last year. Barclays analyst Brian A. Johnson is more optimistic about the EV maker’s third-quarter results than the Wall Street. Johnson expects Tesla to report 5 cents in EPS with 25.5% gross margins excluding ZEV credits.
Barclays’ margin estimate is slightly lower than 26.8% in the second-quarter. September quarter margins are likely to be affected by extended drivetrain warranties. The research firm expects the San Francisco-based company to deliver 7,844 Model S units during the July-September period, slightly above the company’s guidance of 7,800 units. Deliveries in Europe are expected to come in at about 1,700 units. The company delivered about 1,600 cars in North America in July and August. So, the company needed to deliver about 2,100 units in North America in September and 2,450 units in Asia during the quarter to meet its guidance.
Tesla may struggle to achieve Q4 delivery guidance
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) forecasts to deliver at least 35,000 Model S units this year, which means the company expects to deliver at least 13,000 units in Q4. Barclays says the current quarter implied guidance is difficult to meet. That’s because it will require Asia deliveries to show strong growth from about 2,450 units in Q3 to over 6,000 units. That’s not entirely impossible considering the recent rollout of right-hand drive in Hong Kong and Japan.
Further, Johnson says about 500-700 Model S orders are likely to be pushed into early 2015 as buyers wait for the new all-wheel drive model. Therefore, Johnson has lowered his Q4 delivery guidance from 12,700 units to 12,200 units, lower than the company guidance of 13,000 units. Barclays has an Equal Weight rating on the stock with $220 price objective.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gained 0.37% to $231.33 at 10:22 AM EDT on Tuesday.
