Tesla's highly anticipated fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report is set to be released on Wednesday, with investors and analysts eagerly awaiting updates on the company's revenue, net income, and guidance for 2025. The electric vehicle (EV) maker's quarterly report and accompanying earnings call, led by CEO Elon Musk, has a history of delivering surprises, and this quarter's call is expected to be particularly action-packed.

Tesla's delivery results for 2024, announced earlier this month, showed a 2.2% year-over-year decline to 1.77 million vehicles globally. While the company's fourth-quarter delivery results hinted at positive momentum, with a 7% increase in deliveries compared to Q3, the decline in overall deliveries is likely to impact revenue unless other sectors of Tesla's business can fill the sales gap. As a result, all eyes will be on the financials, with Musk expected to share sales and profit expectations for 2025.

One of the key areas of focus will be Musk's long-promised plan to make Tesla's cars autonomous. The company posted a video on Musk's social media platform X, showing finished cars driving themselves about a mile to a delivery prep parking lot. Musk has claimed that Tesla will start letting people hail self-driving Teslas in Texas and California later this year, and Bloomberg News recently reported that the company has been talking with city officials in Austin and across Texas about launching such a service.

However, California is a more restrictive place to launch a robotaxi service, with companies like Waymo starting with test vehicles and then ramping up to autonomous drives with safety operators before removing humans from the driver's seat. Texas, which has a more favorable regulatory environment, seems more likely to let Tesla take riskier shortcuts on the path to achieving Musk's dream.

Looking back at Tesla's financial performance, the company reported $25.2 billion in sales during the third quarter of 2024 and a $2.2 billion profit, nearly flat compared to the same quarter in 2023. The company's operating income and earnings on an adjusted basis provided a clearer picture of its financial performance. Tesla also continued to benefit from other automakers' hesitancy to transition to full-electric lineups, booking $739 million worth of sales of regulatory credits in the third quarter last year.

However, Tesla's ambitions seem to clash with the new administration's policies. President Trump has said he wants to try to revoke California's waiver that allows it to set its own emissions rules, which could impact Tesla's revenue stream from regulatory credits. Additionally, Trump is targeting funding programs for EV charging that Tesla benefits from, which could further complicate the company's financial outlook.

As Tesla navigates these regulatory hurdles, investors will be watching closely for updates on the long-delayed Tesla Roadster, progress with the Tesla Semi, and how its Supercharger network is handling non-Tesla vehicles. With so many moving parts, Tesla's earnings call is shaping up to be a critical moment for the company and its investors.