In late February, Tesla Motors (TSLA) - Get Reportfell 10% in the three trading days following its fourth-quarter earnings report. Nonetheless, shares went into Wednesday afternoon's first-quarter report up 14% from where they traded prior to the Q4 print.

That's how it often goes with Tesla. Its stock is trading far less based on the EV pioneer's near-term results than on the dueling emotions of hope and fear. Hope that Tesla is on its way to becoming a mass-market EV maker cranking out a million-plus cars per year at high margins, and fear that the company won't make good on Elon Musk's very ambitious promises.

Tesla's Q1 report and earnings call may have slightly heightened the hope, given a continued dearth of specifics about the production ramp and order activity for its Model 3 sedan, which in turn might have contributed to Thursday's profit-taking. But the selloff could be short-lived if fresh news and/or rumors strengthen the latter emotion.

With the help of ramping Model S sedan and Model X SUV deliveries, Tesla reported Q1 revenue of $2.7 billion (up 135% annually), beating a consensus analyst estimate of $2.61 billion. Adjusted EPS, weighed down by an 85% increase in GAAP operating expenses to $925.5 million, came in at negative $1.33, below a negative $0.82 consensus.

Shares fell about 5% on Thursday. They're still up 38% on the year, and -- with the qualifier that predicting how much a company like this will earn in a few years is very much a guessing game -- valued at 25 times Tesla's 2020 EPS consensus of $11.60.

In line with its early-April disclosure, 25,051 EV deliveries were made, up 13% sequentially and 69% annually. Tesla still expects 47,000 to 50,000 first-half deliveries (up 61% to 71%) annually, and notably says it will hold off on giving a second-half outlook until after Model 3 production starts in July.

The company reiterates it wants to ramp Model 3 output to 5,000 vehicles per week "at some point in 2017," and 10,000 vehicles per week "at some point in 2018." On the other hand, it now expects to spend "slightly over $2 billion" on capital expenses in 2017, after previously guiding for $2 billion to $2.5 billion in capex.

Automotive revenue grew 123% annually to $2.29 billion. In addition to delivery growth, auto sales benefited sequentially from a mix shift towards the Model X, and from greater uptake of value-added trims and options. Though not providing total full-year delivery guidance, Musk indicates Tesla aims to sell about 100,000 Model S and Model X units this year.

Energy generation and storage revenue, which covers Tesla's recently-acquired SolarCity unit and its Powerwall battery packs, totaled $213.9 million, with gross margin coming in at 29.1%. Tesla says it plans to start pilot production for its solar roof tile solution in Q2, ahead of a second-half product launch.

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On the earnings call, Musk raised eyebrows by suggesting that the Model 3's name (by featuring a number rather than a letter) has caused "confusion in the marketplace," leading some consumers to think the Model 3 represents an upgrade to the Model S and perhaps affecting sales of the latter. One would think that the 3's $35,000 start price, roughly half that of the S, would limit any such confusion.

At the same time, Musk once more declined to provide an update for cumulative Model 3 reservations (above 400,000 as of last June), merely saying net reservations "continue to climb week after week." His reasoning: Providing a reservation figure could lead people to make unjustified predictions about future Model 3 sales, since the car can't be test-driven yet and some of those visiting Tesla showroom with interest in the Model 3 end up buying a Model S or X.

Whether one buys that argument or not, the fact that Tesla's total customer deposits declined by $47 million sequentially to $616.4 million has fueled speculation that Model 3 reservations might not be growing much. CFO Deepak Ahuja attributed the deposit drop to Tesla addressing "an artificial backlog" of Model X deposits by ramping the SUV's production and deliveries.

Meanwhile, Musk was his usual uber-optimistic self when it came to making long-term predictions. He reiterated that a prior target of producing one million cars by 2020 is achievable, while adding it could possibly be exceeded. He forecast Tesla's Model Y crossover SUV will arrive in 2020, if not late 2019, and that it will require just a 100-meter wiring harness (one-fifteenth of the Model 3 and one-thirtieth of the Model S). And he once more said Tesla's battery Gigafactory will likely exceed over 100 gigawatt-hours of production capacity, far above an initial target of 35.

As Jim Cramer observes on Real Money, there's a theatrical element to what Musk is doing. And as Tesla's 2017 gains show, many investors are sold on what's promised during Musk's performances, believing the company's impressive accomplishments to date provide reasons to take Musk at his word, or close to it.

But those with some doubts about Tesla's ability to hit Musk's targets, whether due to the company's past failure to hit goals and deadlines or due to the sheer magnitude of the production ramp it's promising, clearly weren't appeased by what was shared in its earnings report and call. And given Tesla's current valuation, the presence of such doubts should yield plenty of volatility ahead of the Model 3 ramp.

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