Tesla Inc. (TSLA) – Get the report Shares rose slightly on Monday ahead of the release of a first-quarter earnings report that is expected to show increased group revenues, but potentially under pressure margins from the global semiconductor shortage.

Check out Eric Jhonsa’s live blog post on Tesla’s earnings after the close.

Tesla is expected to post first quarter net income of 79 cents per share, an increase of two and a half times over the same period last year, on a 72% increase in revenue to $ 10.3 billion in his report after the close of trading today.

Tesla delivered 184,800 new cars in the three months ended in March, the company reported on April 1, a record total that included production of 180,338 Model 3 and Model Y.

China accounted for about 37.5% of that total, with the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) posting the first quarter total of 69,280 units sold in the world’s largest car market after the launch of its Shanghai gigafactory in 2019.

Gross margin pressures, however, related in part to the costs associated with meeting targets and on-time delivery amid a global semiconductor supply shortage, could affect first quarter earnings, but Tesla has insisted that it is less sensitive to supply chain impacts given that it designs many of its chips in-house and secures some of its supplies directly from foundries instead of outsourcing them.

However, the sale of regulatory credits, which totaled $ 401 million over the three months ending in December, will add another boost to its bottom line.

Updates on the construction of facilities in Berlin and Austin, which could be commissioned later this year, will also be critical to the short-term performance of the stock, as it makes the final transition to mass production. in order to deliver as much as possible. 1 million cars this year.

“Tesla’s successful transition to consumer electric vehicles and significant investments in battery manufacturing expertise and production capacity give us confidence that they will attack and conquer another trillion dollar market in the energy production and storage, ”said Jed Dorsheimer, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, which carries a $ 1,071 target price with a buy note on the stock. “Tesla is quickly creating an Apple-esque ecosystem of energy products, harmonized in electrification, to become the brand in energy storage.”

Not everyone believes Tesla’s story, but not its $ 700 billion market value – more than 2.5 times that of Toyota Motor Co.TM – given its modest delivery totals and margins. rough unequal.

Tesla remains the best-selling stock on the S&P 500, according to data from S3 partners, with $ 35 billion in bets against it representing around 6% of the total float.

Tesla shares were marked 0.9% higher late Monday afternoon to change hands at $ 736.20 each, a move that would push the stock to a 4% gain for the year .