Technology

This pilot fish is tapped to lead development of a critical application, and once he has acquired some training on the selected technologies, it's time to answer a key question.

"The boss asked when the application could go into production," says fish. "I provided a range of 20 to 24 months. The boss allowed that the organization would never stand for that schedule."

But the boss admits they need the application, and will be better off developing it internally rather than trying to buy or get outside help. So he tells fish that he'll pass along an estimate of six months -- and forbids fish to ever say otherwise.

Fast forward a year, by which time fish's boss has left the organization. Fish's new boss asks for an estimate of when the software will be ready to go -- and fish's one-more-year response makes him quite unhappy.

A little more than a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk handed over the first Model 3 electric vehicles to employees at a splashy event in Hawthorne, California. Itbeen (production) hell ever since, a term Musk has used repeatedly in the past 12 months as the electric automaker struggled to ramp up production of its most important vehicle to date.

Now, a month after Tesla hit a key milestone and producednearly 5,000 Model 3 cars in the last week of June, investors, fans and critics are waiting to get a closer look at the companyfinances. Tesla is expected to report its second quarterly earnings after the market closes August 1. A conference call will be held at 2:30 pm PT.

Herewhat we&re looking for and what we hope to hear from Musk:

Conversions

Tesla has opened the Model 3 waitlist floodgates and invited all reservation holders in the U.S. and Canada to order the electric sedan.

Tesla might not share the number of reservations holders who have opted to ask for a refund or to go ahead and order a Model 3. But that figure would give insight on demand as well as help determine what obstacles lie ahead. For instance, a large number of reservations converting to orders might signal a rosy future for revenue as well as potential headwinds in production and delivery times with the increased volume.

Those reservations also equal money. The company had $985 million in customer deposits, which includes the Model 3, at the end of the first quarter. Once a customer decides to buy a Model 3, their $1,000 deposit becomes non-refundable and another $2,500 payment is required to complete the order.

Cash

The company did bring in record revenues in 2017— $11.8 billion in all. And first-quarter revenues of $3.4 billion were 26% higher than the previous quarter.

But revenue only tells part of the story.

A Bloomberg analysis in May estimates Tesla is spendingmore than$7,430 every minute. Teslafree cash flow, which is the amount of cash it generates after accounting for capital expenditures, has been negative for six consecutive quarters.

Tesla ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $2.67 billion, a $702 million drop from the previous quarter. Tesla saw its net debt increase $1.05 billion. The companyoutstanding debt is more than $10 billion.

And it doesn&t appear that the spending has slowed. The company is pulling skilled workers from a variety of departments to work on its vehicle and battery plants, sometimes flying them in from out of state and housing them in hotels, CNBC reported Tuesday.

Itjust one of the extra costs Tesla is taking on to consistently produce 5,000 or more Model 3 sedans a week if it hopes to be profitable.

Teslareported in the first quartera net loss of $$784.6 million, or $4.19 per share.

China

China has the potential to be a key market for Tesla. The automakerreached a deal in July with the Shanghai government to build a factory capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a year.

The factory would be the automakersecond assembly plant and aimed at serving the alluring Chinese market.

Watch (or listen) for more information on Teslafactory plans for China, including the potential financial strains it will place on the company. Tesla hasn&t provided an estimate of what the factory might cost to build. Thata critical data point for Tesla, which has been burning through cash as it tries to ramp up production of itsModel 3 vehicle.

Cool head

Muskcombative behavior during the previous earnings call in May and erratic tweets has even supportive investors taking note.

For better or worse, Tesla and Musk are inextricably linked. In the past, Muskfrankness during calls and his late-night tweets has been celebrated. But patience has grown thin with some in recent weeks, including analysts.

Earnings calls have become a gauge, not just of how the company is holding up, but for its leader as well.

With its latest funding round, Formlabs has achieved unicorn status. The Massachusetts-based 3D printing startup just raised another $15 million. The latest round brings its total funding up to $100 million, and puts the company in the relatively rare air of hardware startups with valuations in excess of $1 billion. This latest funding, which follows a $30 million raise in April, is led by New Enterprise Associates.

The milestone is doubly impressive, given the state of 3D printing. After years of hype, the bubble burst, sending much of the competition scrambling. But Formlabs, which began life as a Kickstarter campaign back in 2012, set itself apart from the competition by offering industrial 3D printing in a desktop form factor.

That technology was quick to catch on among hardware prototypers looking to step up their game from the plastic depositing technology found on devices from companies like MakerBot. In recent years, the company has added more desktop manufacturing technologies and worked to push its existing tech into the burgeoning world of 3D printing for manufacturing.

Along with the new funding, Formlabs is also adding former GE CEO Jeff Immelt to its board of directors.

&I&m excited to work with Formlabs at this pivotal time in the companydevelopment,& Immelt said in a release tied to the news. &Max and the team have demonstrated outstanding progress to date, with best-in-class technology and impressive momentum across a wide swath of industries, including engineering, healthcare and manufacturing. Since the companyfounding in 2011, they have outpaced competitors and established themselves as a leader in 3D printing. I look forward to supporting this next phase for the company as they accelerate adoption and continue to advance the technology.&

Formlabs currently employs 500 across North America, Europe and Asia.