Tesla Earnings Preview: Everyone Is Expecting A Big Loss

Shares of Tesla Motors Inc TSLA will report first quarter financial results after Wednesday's market closes.

According to Estimize, experts and the crowd both expect to see a marked decline in earnings and virtually flat revenue. In the first quarter of 2014, the company reported earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $713 million; in the last quarter, a net loss of $(0.13) per share on revenue of $1.095 billion.

For the first quarter of 2015, Wall Street analysts are modeling a consensus net loss of $(0.52) per share on revenue of $1.039 billion, while the crowd projects a net loss of $(0.22) on revenue of $1.103 billion.

Related Link: How Tesla Will Surpass Apple And Become The 'Most Valuable Company Ever Created'

The chart below shows how Tesla’s actual earnings have compared to estimates over the past couple of years, and how estimates for the current quarter compare to past results.

A second graph illustrates the evolution of consensus estimates over time.

Both experts and the crowd have been becoming increasingly bearish on Tesla’s results since the beginning of the year, when both expected to witness not only positive earnings, but also substantial growth.

Why Tesla's Q1 Earnings May Not Matter

A recent article explored how the earnings report might not matter now that the Powerwall, Tesla’s home battery, has been announced.

Sean Udall, CIO of Quantum Trading Strategies and author of The TechStrat Report, told Benzinga, "The battery deal was the thing I've been waiting for them to do (…) I think that is a genius idea. I think they're gonna nail it.”

He added, "As far as earnings report, I don't even know if it's gonna matter a whole lot."