Tesla will report its third quarter earnings this afternoon at a time when the Silicon Valley company has been in something of a rough patch.

• One big question: Analysts and others on the conference call with Tesla management will be keenly interested in the status of production of the Model 3, which has been far slower than the company had initially forecast.
• Get ready: This Bloomberg preview looks at that and other questions facing Elon Musk's company, such as how much money Tesla is burning through to work things out with the Model 3 and the status of plans for a factory in China.