Earnings season is here again and one stock to watch this month is electric automaker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). The company reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, after the markets close.
The stock has soared more than 640% over the past year and to keep that trend going investors will be looking for another big quarter from the company. Tesla already released its production and delivery numbers for Q4 earlier this month, which showed that it produced 179,757 vehicles during the period and made 180,570 deliveries. That's up from the previous quarter when the company produced 145,036 vehicles and delivered 139,300.
Tesla is coming off a strong Q3 where revenue of $8.8 billion beat analyst expectations of $8.4 billion and its adjusted earnings per share of $0.76 was also higher than the $0.57 that Wall Street was looking for. It was the fifth straight quarterly profit for Tesla. And whether the company can keep that streak going will likely play a big role in determining which direction the stock will go in the coming weeks.
But with Tesla's production and delivery numbers up and demand for its vehicles still looking strong, the company could be due for a strong finish to its fiscal year. And that could push the stock to new highs.
The only hesitation for investors today is if Tesla's stock is simply too expensive. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of nearly 200, investors are paying a big premium for the stock. But a high price tag hasn't deterred Tesla investors in the past, and that isn't likely to change anytime soon.
