Tesla shareholders will get a chance to hear their high prophet speak Tuesday when CEO Elon Musk takes the stage at the electric carmaker’s annual meeting, which comes as the company faces uncertainty over its vehicle deliveries and renewed investor enthusiasm on Wall Street.
Shareholders will vote on eight different items, including the re-election of directors Ira Ehrenpreis and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson; an incentive plan that would let Tesla issue 12.5 million new shares of stock; and an amendment to its bylaws that would eliminate supermajority voting requirements, which would mean that Tesla would not need to get at least a 66% approval vote to amend its governing documents.
In addition to the standard voting procedures, Musk is expected to field questions from shareholders who likely will want some insight into Tesla’s business operations, including its production and delivery levels and an update on the Model Y crossover SUV, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2020.
Vehicle deliveries, which is how Tesla refers to unit sales, are a crucial sign of the company’s business health. Many investors and analysts have been critical about Tesla’s prospects after the company reported 63,000 vehicle deliveries during the first quarter of the year, down from almost 91,000 cars in the final three months of 2018. Tesla typically puts out its quarterly delivery results within four days after a quarter ends; its next delivery report is set to come in early July.
Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said the pressure is on Tesla to meet Wall Street’s expectations for 90,000 deliveries in the quarter that ends June 30, and to reach its delivery target for the year of 360,000 to 400,000 cars.
“Musk and Tesla are facing a fork-in-the-road scenario,” Ives said. “Model 3 demand (needs) to rebound significantly into the next few quarters for the company to deliver sustained profitability, which remains a hot-button issue.”
Tesla’s shares, which are among the most volatile on Wall Street, have tested investors’ stamina this year by falling more than 35 percent since January. However, they surged more than 10 percent last week on reports that Tesla has seen demand levels rise over the past month.
