Elon Musk expected to lay out Tesla's vision for the future

Thursday, 27 January 2022

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is expected once again to join the company's upcoming earnings call later today to discuss a 'product roadmap' for the future.

Investors are holding their breath. Musk announced in July he would no longer participate in Tesla earnings calls unless he had something 'really important' to say.

Musk is expected to join Tesla executives Wednesday as the company discusses its quarterly figures, providing updates on its long-awaited Cybertruck pickup and the Texas factory where it will be built. Musk had said he planned to provide the product update amid supply chain woes that Tesla blames for shifting some of its manufacturing timelines.

Despite the success of its best-selling vehicles, the Model 3 and Model Y, the company has yet to produce its Cybertruck pickup, electric big-rig dubbed the Tesla Semi, or the Tesla Roadster, the updated version of its sports car.

Tesla is likely to tout its 2021 production and delivery figures during the year-end update, including delivering more than 936,000 vehicles over the course of 2021 along with 308,600 vehicle deliveries in the quarter.

After saying he would no longer participate in Tesla’s earnings calls unless he had something 'really important' to say, Elon Musk is expected to make an appearance at the upcoming call to lay out a ‘product roadmap’ for the company.

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Tesla's Cybertruck has a unique design for a truck, but it is a style we have seen before. About 50 years ago.

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Tesla has grown substantially despite the pandemic - even during a manufacturing and supply chain crunch that has constrained other automakers. Its annual deliveries nearly doubled the figure from the 2020 annual report of 499,550, and exceeded last year's quarterly figure for the same period - 180,570 - by nearly 130,000.

Musk is known for his brash - and sometimes erratic - behaviour that comes on display during earnings call appearances.

In 2020 he broke into a profanity-laced rant during one such appearance as he decried shelter-in-place orders as 'fascist.'

In July he called subscriptions for Tesla's Full Self-Driving driver-assistance features 'debatable,' saying 'We need to make Full Self-Driving work in order for it to be a compelling value proposition.' The comments raised eyebrows for casting doubt on the company's own product in a forum intended to promote its successes, though they reflected Musk's occasional candour and penchant for oversharing.

Musk said in the same presentation that he would scale back his earnings call participation, saving his appearances for important announcements and revelations.

Analysts expect Tesla to post strong revenues on its fourth quarter performance.

'Tesla is coming off a robust 4Q performance in which the company despite the chip shortage beat … unit forecasts by 16 per cent as a clear standout with many other auto stalwarts facing challenges across the board,' wrote Dan Ives, analyst with Wedbush Securities.