Tesla Q1 Earnings: How to Livestream What Might Be a Tension-Filled Call

Tesla is about to livestream its first quarter 2019 earnings call, and it’s expected to be a tough time for the electric car automaker. As it grapples with launching the Model Y SUV, bringing self-driving vehicles to market and bringing the Model 3 internationally, CEO Elon Musk is expected to face questions about current Tesla sales and its plans for the future.

It comes at a turbulent time for Tesla. The company was granted a temporary restraining order against a member of the short-seller community earlier this week, after a car interfered with the company’s efforts to shoot a video for its autonomous car investor event. Short-sellers stand to make a profit from Tesla’s stock price dropping, coalescing around the “$TSLAQ” tag on Twitter. “Skabooshka,” the account linked to the reckless driving in the restraining order, claimed after the order that Tesla “is a zero” and Musk “will go to prison.” Musk has lashed out at what he perceives as unfavorable news coverage, questioning why a Tesla fire in Shanghai received so many media reports.

The company has released an avalanche of information this quarter, following on from its year of mass expansion as it worked to produce 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week. The company has now started bringing its cheapest-ever electric vehicle to countries outside of North America, sparking big sales in Europe and China. It’s announced a third-generation supercharger capable of pumping 250 kilowatts into batteries to add a further 1,000 miles of range onto cars in just one hour. It’s also unveiled the Model Y SUV, the second car in its three-part plan to take on the mass market that’s expected to culminate in the debut of a Tesla pickup truck later this year.

This week alone, Tesla has unveiled upgrades to the Model S and X that boost its range even further, giving the Model S 370 miles per charge. It’s also announced a third version of the Tesla Solar Roof. If that wasn’t enough, Tesla also detailed its autonomous driving plans this week with plans to get one million robot taxis onto the road. But while product launches and announcements are cool, investors are more concerned about the bottom line and profitability.

"First-quarter results have already been telegraphed as weak"

These earnings are expected to be tense, as analysts grill executives over results expected to be somewhat sub-par. Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin writes in a note seen by Bloomberg that “first-quarter results have already been telegraphed as weak,” and Goldman Sachs analyst David Tamberrino dismissed this week’s robo-taxi event as “a way for the company to focus investors away from the underlying demand and margin pressures the company is currently facing.”

Tesla Q1 2019: When It Will Start

The Tesla earnings call will start at these times:

• 2:30 p.m. Pacific time
• 5:30 p.m. Eastern time
• 10:30 p.m. British Summer time
• 11:30 p.m. Central European time
• 5:30 a.m. China Standard time (Thursday)
• 7:30 a.m. Australian Eastern time (Thursday)

Tesla Q1 2019: How to Livestream

Listening to the call is simple:

• Visit the company’s investor relations page. The listings should show the fourth quarter 2018 results, plus a link to the webcast.
• Visit the webcast link. You will be asked to enter your first name, last name, email address, and company.
• Hit submit, and you will be taken to the media player.

Note that following along requires using Windows 7 or later, macOS version 10.11 or later, iOS 10 or later, or Android 4.4 or later. It will also require using one of the following browsers:

• Google Chrome (two latest versions)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
• Microsoft Edge (two latest versions)
• Firefox (two latest versions)
• Safari (two latest versions)

And that’s it! If you happen to miss the call, Tesla provides recordings of previous calls to listen over after the event.