Embattled Tesla to Report Earnings After the Close

Electric carmaker Tesla TLSA will report Wednesday after the closing bell. Analysts are currently expecting the company to post a loss per share of $0.53 on revenue of $298.9 million. The company has been a tremendous performer recently -- shares are up nearly 20% in the last three months alone. Despite this rally, shares remain heavily shorted: Nearly 40% of Tesla's outstanding shares have been sold short. However, Tesla's performance on Wednesday might be dictated more by the color the company gives on the status of its Model S sedan rather than the company's actual earnings results. The Model S has gotten a bit of publicity in the last few weeks, though much of it hasn't been flattering. A reporter for The New York Times, John Broder, claimed that, in test driving a Model S given to him by Tesla, his vehicle ran out of electric power before it finished a planned route and had to be towed away. Tesla's outspoken CEO, Elon Musk, took to his twitter account to publicly dispute Broder's claims, alleging that Broder had taken a detour and failed to fully follow the instructions given to him by Tesla's staff. At any rate, the Model S has been critically acclaimed, winning Motor Trend's 2013 “Car of the Year” award. Still, the car has faced a number of common criticisms leveled at nearly all electric cars, notably the vehicle's limited range. Tesla analyst Andrea James at Dougherty & Company is bullish on the stock ahead of earnings. “We believe there is plenty of room for investor sentiment to improve,” James told Benzinga. Shares of Tesla were roughly flat ahead of the earnings report, trading around $39 per share.