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Apple has hired another prominent cardiologist as it adds more medical talent to its growing team.

The company brought on David Tsay, a professor of cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center and an associate chief transformation officer, where he focused on implementing digital services. Tsay just updated his LinkedIn to note that he's joined Apple and a person familiar said he's just started his new role this month. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Tsay is the second well-known cardiologist to join Apple, following Alexis Beatty, who previously worked at the University of Washington.

Heart health is a huge area of focus for the company, both in its medical research and its hardware. The most recent Apple Watch smartwatches include features that track an irregular heart rate as well as potential abnormalities in the heart's rhythm, via an electrocardiogram. Hiring cardiologists signals a continued interest in monitoring heart health, as well as helping people eat better and shift to more healthy lifestyles. It also brought on Heather Patrick, a prominent behavioral scientist, in the past few months, according to LinkedIn.

Bringing on medical experts is also important as the company faces skepticism from the medical community about whether its health features like the electrocardiogram will do more harm than good. Adding more doctors to its ranks suggests that the company is thinking seriously about how to communicate with, as well as form alliances, within the medical sector.

"Cardiovascular disease has been such a huge and difficult problem to tackle," noted Jeffrey Wessler, a New York-based cardiologist and the founder of the Heartbeat heart-health clinics. "But we finally have consumer-grade tech catching up that offer a new set of solutions."

Because of the scale of the problem -- heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. -- Wessler refers to technology that can help manage heart disease as the "holy grail of disease management."

"There can't be much larger of a target for big tech," he said.

Tsay will work closely with the other doctors at Apple, who hail from an array of different specialties and work across teams under the various leaders. The company has scooped up dozens of doctors, including a prominent obstetrician, a pediatric endocrinologist who treats children with diabetes, and a slew of primary care physicians.

Heart health isn't just a focus area at Apple. As Big Tech continues to explore whether it can penetrate the $3.5 trillion medical sector, cardiologists are often hired early and given senior roles. Alphabet's health unit Verily chose a cardiologist, Jessica Mega, as its chief medical officer. And Amazon hired Dr. Maulik Majmudar, also a cardiologist, as a resident medical expert as it moves into health.

Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.

It might be time to go "bottom fishing" for Hong Kong stocks, according to Barclays' head of markets for Asia Pacific, as the unrest in the embattled city drags on, which has hit businesses badly.

Barclays' Matt Pecot told CNBC at the Barclays Asia Forum on Thursday: "I think a lot of investors have chosen to steer clear ... property stocks, a lot of your hotel stocks have corrected pretty dramatically."

The months-long protests in the city have affected retailers, airlines and property companies, among other industries.

Tourist arrivals have plunged — overall September arrivals declined 34% year over year — while hotel occupancy rates have slumped. Hong Kong's August retail sales were the worst on record, its government said earlier this month, falling 23% from a year earlier.

"Hopefully we'll get a resolution of this soon and some of the violence and vandalism stops. But I think lot of it is probably already priced in and it may be time for a little bottom fishing," Pecot said, referring to the strategy of investing in assets that have seen declines and are considered undervalued.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index plunged to a seven-month low in August and has since bounced back slightly — but it is still more than 12% off its highs this year in April.

Property names listed on the index have taken a hit. Shares of New World Development has tumbled about 20% since April, while Henderson Land is down around 13%. CK Asset has plunged around 24%.

The real estate industry is regarded as critical to Hong Kong's financial stability. The sector is tracked as an indicator of the health of the wider Hong Kong economy and banking sector, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF — which closely tracks Hong Kong shares — has also plunged more than 12% since its highs this year in April.

On Thursday afternoon, the city's government said third-quarter GDP slipped 2.9% compared with the same quarter a year ago — marking the "marking the first year-on-year contraction for an individual quarter since the Great Recession of 2009." Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department said in a statement that it now projects "to record a negative growth for 2019 as a whole."

— CNBC's Stella Soon contributed to this report.

All 23 seasons of "South Park" will be heading to HBO Max in June 2020.

The AT&T-owned streaming service announced Tuesday that it had secured the exclusive U.S. rights to the satirical animated show in a multiyear licensing deal.

"South Park is unequivocally among the best — setting the satirical gold standard, with a consistent finger on the comedy pulse," said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max and president of TBS, TNT, and truTV. "Audiences have connected with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny – either alive or dead – for over 20 years, and we look forward to connecting these characters to new audiences on HBO Max."

In addition to hundreds of episodes, HBO Max will house new episodes from the shows next three seasons 24 hours after they debut on Comedy Central.

The company didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal with Viacom and "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Earlier this month, it was reported that "South Park's" streaming rights were set to be sold between $450 million and $500 million. This price tag would be comparable to what Comcast paid to license "The Office" for its upcoming streaming service Peacock and what AT&T paid for "Friends." Netflix recently paid a similar amount for the rights to "Seinfeld."

Adding legacy shows like "South Park," "Friends," "The Office" and "Seinfeld," which have hundreds of episodes, has become a key strategy for streaming services.

Netflix was one of the first services to figure out that long-running popular shows have huge fan bases who will rewatch episodes again and again. Not only that, but new generations who missed the first run of these shows can get hooked as well. Just look at how "Friends" rose to popularity again in the last few years after more than a decade off the air.

"The Office," which will leave Netflix before arriving on Peacock, was the number one most-watched show on Netflix in 2018.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

Shares of cosmetics maker L'Oreal rose more than 6% early on Wednesday, a day after reporting its biggest quarterly jump in sales in more than a decade buoyed by demand from Asia.

The maker of Lancome cosmetics defied fears of a slowdown in mainland China by beating revenue forecasts by a wide margin in an encouraging sign for peers selling high-end skincare products, such as Clinique owner Estee Lauder.

"Growth in luxury (cosmetics) was fantastic," analysts at Bernstein said in a note on L'Oreal.

The French firm did highlight weak spots, however, including in the United States, where make-up sales are slowing.

Samsung gave a sneak peek of a new foldable smartphone concept that folds vertically like an old flip phone, rather than horizontally like its recently released Galaxy Fold device.

The South Korean tech giant showed off the design in a video at its developer conference on Tuesday. The clip starts off with the Galaxy Fold flipping open and closing again before transitioning to a new model that shuts in half like a clamshell.

It's a brief teaser for what's to come as Samsung and some other phone makers race to find new ways of innovating in smartphone design. Huawei recently released its folding phone, the Mate X, in China, while fellow Chinese firm Xiaomi has previously teased a gadget that folds backwards from a tablet into a phone that can be held with one hand.

It isn't yet clear whether Samsung plans on releasing the device commercially. According to Reuters, the firm said in a statement that it couldn't comment on future products but is "committed to pioneering the foldable category, including investing in the development of new form factors."

A Samsung spokesperson wasn't immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

There have been concerns over how smartphones with folding glass will be able to sustain long-term usage, after Samsung's Galaxy Fold ended up breaking initially for multiple reviewers. The company consequently delayed the official launch of the phone, finally releasing it last month after addressing some key issues.

Standing out from the crowd is Microsoft, which is returning to the smartphone scene with a new device called the Surface Duo that folds using a hinge connecting two 5.6-inch screens. Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay told reporters in London earlier this month that he thinks two screen devices are "coming," adding "they're real."

It comes as smartphone sales have been on the wane, with shipments declining 2.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2019, according to industry research firm IDC. Experts are hoping the emergence of 5G — the next generation of mobile internet — could help boost sales in the future, with Apple expected to release a 5G device in 2020.

Podcasts will be as critical to Spotify's business as the streaming of original shows and movies are for Netflix, CFO Barry McCarthy told CNBC on Monday.

"I used to get this question about streaming," McCarthy, who was Netflix's finance chief at the time of the company's IPO, said on "Squawk on the Street," in response to David Faber's question about the significance of podcasts. "It's a different value proposition and a different use occasion, but people listen to a lot of music, a lot of radio."

McCarthy's appearance followed Spotify's earnings report, in which the company announced a surprise profit, sending shares up as much as 19% to $143.15. Spotify also announced that McCarthy, who architected the Swedish company's direct public listing last year, will retire in January.

While Spotify rose to prominence as a music streaming platform, it has significantly expanded into podcasting — building not just a large library of third-party shows, but offering original content exclusively for its users. For Netflix, before there was streaming available, the company used to send DVDs by mail.

Earlier this year, Spotify acquired podcast companies Gimlet Media and Anchor, and said it would spend $400 million to $500 million in podcast acquisitions in 2019. 

"Now it's an audio service," McCarthy said.

With the exception of live sports, McCarthy argued that everything else "you're going to consume on-demand streamed, in your home, in your car, in your office, when you're commuting, and there is a lot of that," he said.

McCarthy said podcasting can help Spotify achieve its long-term goal of 35% operating margins, even if it's weighing on profitability right now. After Monday's rally, the stock is still down over the past year and fell below $111 a share in October, dropping close to 40% over the prior 12 months. 

"I think the reason it rolled over was because we said to investors, 'Hey, don't expect the operating leverage we've been demonstrating to continue in the future because we're going to start investing in this thing called podcasting,'" McCarthy said.

The investment will initially "be a tax" on Spotify's financials, which is similar to when Netflix began building out its streaming operation, he said.

But over time, because podcasts as costs become fixed, "we'll grow faster and be more profitable as a consequence," McCarthy said.

WATCH: Spotify outperforms Q3 earnings with more premium subscribers

Oil markets are expected to face excess supplies in 2020 due to a production boost amid weak demand growth, the director for energy markets and security at the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.

"Overall, we will continue to see a well supplied market in 2020," said Keisuke Sadamori at the Singapore International Energy Week.

"Unless other things change, we will see a surplus probably, unless there is very strong demand growth recovery," Sadamori told CNBC.

In its latest monthly report, the Paris-based agency cut its oil demand growth figure by 100,000 barrels a day for 2019 and 2020. Oil demand is expected grow at a "still solid" 1.2 million barrels a day in 2020, IEA said in the report.

Global macroeconomic concerns such as the U.S.-China trade dispute and the developments surrounding Brexit — the UK's exit from the European Union trade bloc — are issues clouding the oil market outlook, said Sadamori.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and other producers including Russia, have implemented an output cut by 1.2 million barrels per day since January in a bid to support the market.

However, oil supplies this year have been boosted by non-OPEC members such as the U.S. in shale oil production. Brazil and Norway will also produce more oil next year, said Sadamori.

Meanwhile, demand in 2019 has been weak, amid weak growth in the first half and India demand growth slower than expected, he said. Growth in the second half of 2019 is being supported by a low base over the same period in 2018.

In September, Saudi Arabia was forced to cut its oil production by half following a series of drone strikes on its oil processing facility. The closure affected nearly 5.7 million barrels of crude production a day — or about 5% of the world's daily oil production.

While there were concerns about the supply security after the attack, claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the recovery in supplies has been "quite impressive," said Sadamori, giving comfort to the Kingdom's customers around the world and assurance of the stability of world oil markets.

Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said on Tuesday that he was the only candidate who had been disqualified from running in local district council elections due to be held in November.

In a notice on Tuesday, the Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission said his nomination was deemed to be "invalid."

The government separately stated the candidate could not comply with the requirements of relevant electoral laws.

Three years after Tesla bought SolarCity, CEO Elon Musk is still fighting to justify the $2.6 billion deal, in part by revealing a new version of its glass Solar Roof tiles, part of a broader effort to revitalize Tesla's clean energy business.

The company held a webcast to discuss version 3 of its Solar Roof on Friday afternoon, with Musk and other executives taking questions.

CEO Elon Musk and other executives said that the new roof, which includes solar panel tiles that blend in alongside regular roof tiles, would be produced at its factory in Buffalo. The roof -- which resembles earlier versions -- can be installed on a customer's home by a local installer.

Tesla's vice president of technology, Drew Baglino, said on the call that the version 3 of the Solar Roof uses different materials and fewer parts than prior versions, and made it easier to install than earlier versions, and other shingles that are commonly used in roofing. The company plans to develop roof tiles in other styles, such as earth tones and French slate.

The solar glass roof is already available to order with some installations underway, Musk said, adding that Tesla has the goal of getting to 1,000 roofs installed per week as quickly as possible. But he said Tesla would not be producing at that rate for at least several months.

Tesla's earlier attempts to deliver glass Solar Roof tiles sputtered. The roofs have not been mass-produced or distributed yet. Explaining the slow start for the product, Musk said:

The webcast follows a blockbuster third-quarter earnings call for Tesla where Musk announced:

(On Thursday, the CEO took to Twitter to say the event had been delayed until Friday.)

The company does not break out Solar Roof financial results, but lumps them into "energy generation and storage," which made up only 6% of the company's total revenue in Q3 2019.

Critics view Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity as a bailout for Musk and his relatives -- who co-founded and funded SolarCity together -- as well as a distraction to Tesla's core business of making electric vehicles and batteries.

In a case filed in Delaware Chancery court, stockholders are suing Tesla over the SolarCity deal. They accused the company of improperly valuing SolarCity, and misleading investors about the solar installers financial health, and technology -- including its original solar roof tiles -- among other things.

Walmart is also currently suing Tesla after solar panels atop seven of the retailer's stores allegedly caught fire, according a court filing. The suit alleges breach of contract, gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards. Walmart is asking Tesla to remove solar panels from more than 240 Walmart locations where they have been installed, and to pay damages related to all the fires Walmart says that Tesla caused.

Meanwhile, WIVB's Daniel Telvock reported, comptrollers in New York are conducting an audit of high-tech programs in the state including a deep look at Tesla's Buffalo factory, where it had planned to manufacture solar panels and related systems. The factory was built and funded by $750 million in taxpayer money, and required Tesla to generate 1,460 jobs there by April 2020. If Tesla misses that job target, they could have to pay a $41.2 million penalty.

Follow @CNBCtech on Twitter for the latest tech industry news.

When Audrey Hepburn stood outside Tiffany Fifth Avenue in 1961, paper coffee cup and croissant in hand, pining after her dream diamonds, she immortalized the phrase "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and inspired far-flung fantasies for decades to come.

But now movie buffs and shopping enthusiasts alike can dine a la Holly Golightly — only this time with Instagrammable salmon and caviar — with the launch of the luxury jeweler's new concept restaurant in Hong Kong.

The Blue Box Cafe, which opened in mid-October, is located inside Tiffany's new flagship store in the city's iconic Tsim Sha Tsui shopping precinct and marks the brand's first dining destination in Asia.

Decked in Tiffany's signature robin's egg blue, the restaurant is an immersive experience in the classic brand, serving delicate dishes alongside its suite of sterling silver utensils and bone china crockery.

Diners can indulge in varied menu of breakfast and lunch dishes, including coddled eggs and Maine lobster, as well as afternoon tea sets starting from $52. A range of alcoholic beverages and a signature Blue Box celebration cake are also available.

The Hong Kong launch marks Tiffany's second foray into the food business following the launch in 2017 of its inaugural Blue Box Cafe at its flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York.

"We are always looking for new and exciting opportunities and concepts to engage our customers," Richard Moore, divisional vice president of global store design and creative visual merchandising at Tiffany, said at the time.

"If we feel a dining experience will amplify and excite a new or current location, we will explore those possibilities."

Tiffany isn't the only retailer embracing in-store dining experiences in a bid to attract new custom in the era of online shopping.

Ralph Lauren has three Ralphs coffee shops in New York and three in Asia. And Urban Outfitters' Anthropologie brand has seven Terrain Cafes in the U.S., including three in California, serving fried cauliflower sandwiches at brunch and roasted chicken with farro grains for dinner.

U.S. home furnishing chain Restoration Hardware has even jumped on the trend, with a glitzy eatery and rooftop sitting area at its recently opened New York store, headed up by Au Cheval restaurateur, Brendan Sodikoff.

As for Tiffany, Moore said the luxury jeweler will limit its food and beverage expansion only to locations where it can live up to the brand's reputation.

"Bringing in a dining experience gives our customers yet another way to immerse themselves in the Tiffany brand," said Moore.

"We may selectively introduce dining concepts to other flagship stores around the world, but true Tiffany Blue Box Cafes will only ever be considered where we can offer a truly elevated luxury dining experience in our most important locations," said Moore.

That strategy is reflected in the restaurant's lengthy waiting list. Tiffany's New York Blue Box Cafe is booked up for the next month, according to its reservations platform. Meanwhile, restaurant booking platform Chope is currently showing availability at the Hong Kong outlet over the coming weeks.

- CNBC's Lauren Thomas contributed to this report.

Europe's largest lender HSBC reported third-quarter pre-tax profits that fell from a year ago, despite strength in its Asia operations.

The bank said its reported profit before tax plunged 18% on-year to $4.8 billion in the three months that ended in September. On an adjusted basis, HSBC said its pre-tax profit fell 12% to $5.3 billion. Analysts predicted HSBC's pre-tax profit to drop 11% to $5.3 billion for the quarter, Reuters reported.

HSBC's reported revenue for the quarter was $13.36 billion, a 3% on-year loss.

Noel Quinn, the interim group chief executive, said parts of the bank's business, especially in Asia, held up well in a "challenging environment in the third quarter." The bank said its before-tax profit in Asia climbed 4% from last year, noting a "resilient performance in Hong Kong."

But in other parts, Quinn said HSBC's performance "was not acceptable," including business activities within continental Europe.

"Our previous plans are no longer sufficient to improve performance for these businesses, given the softer outlook for revenue growth. We are therefore accelerating plans to remodel them, and move capital into higher growth and return opportunities," Quinn said.

HSBC shares listed in Hong Kong dipped slightly following the earnings announcement. By late-afternoon trade, shares were down 2.51%.

Here are other financial metrics, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, that analysts and investors were watching:

• Net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability, was 1.59% — lower than the 1.67% in September 2018.
• Earnings per share was 57 cents, on par with 56 cents a year ago.

Though the bank is headquartered in London, it earns most of its profits from Asia, particularly Hong Kong. In the first half of this year, the city accounted for 51.7% of the bank's pre-tax profit, according to past financial filings.

Hong Kong has been crippled by widespread and increasingly violent demonstrations since June, which affected the city's many small and medium-sized businesses. HSBC in August announced measures such as interest rebate and fee reduction to help the city's SMEs amid economic uncertainty.

Amazon shares took a major hit after its third-quarter earnings fell short of expectations, but one bright spot was its advertising business, which appears to be picking up speed again.

Net sales in Amazon's "other" category, which primarily represents advertising, was $3.59 billion in the third quarter, up from $2.50 billion in the third quarter of 2018. The quarter saw 45% year-over-year growth in the segment, excluding a $500 million unfavorable impact from changes in foreign exchange rates during the quarter. That's a bit higher than in the first and second quarters of this year, when Amazon saw year-over-year growth of 36% and 37%, respectively.

The gains comes as Amazon's ad business continues to prove itself a formidable contender in the digital ad world. The company is expected to chip away at Google's dominance in search in the coming years, according to a new eMarketer forecast. It also recently held an event called AdCon to showcase Amazon's growing list of ad products, which drew about 400 people in Seattle, CNBC reported earlier this month.

CFO Brian Olsavsky said on Amazon's earnings call Thursday evening that the biggest element in the "other" category, advertising, grew at a rate higher than 45%. He said the company is focusing on its advertising experiences and helping businesses to find, attract and engage customers. "It's increasingly popular with vendors, sellers and third-party advertisers," he said.

He added that the company is also using machine learning to drive relevant ads.

"It's still early and what we're focused on really at this point is relevancy, making sure that the ads are relevant to our customers, helpful to our customers," Olsavsky said.

The company is also adding more video advertising supply on its Fire TV products.

Dave Fildes, the company's director of investor relations, said an area of focus is expanding video and over-the-top offerings for brands.

"It's still early in this space, but we've done a few things with IMDb TV, live sports, things like adding more inventory through Fire TV apps," he said. "And as I said IMDb TV, adding more OTT video supply through Amazon Publisher Services or APS integrations and streamlining access for third party apps and really just making it easier for advertisers to manage their campaigns and provide better results."

In July, Amazon opened up connected TV apps integrated with Amazon Publisher Services for advertisers working with Dataxu (which said this week it was being acquired by Amazon Fire TV competitor Roku) and The Trade Desk.

Many analysts pointed to Amazon's ad performance as a high point in its third-quarter earnings, with J.P. Morgan singling out its reacceleration and saying the company has solidified itself in the number three ad position, behind Google and Facebook.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analysts said the ad business growth rates could accelerate with "such a large opportunity ahead."

"This business should also have a major impact on profitability over time given its high margin profile," they wrote.

The world of financial services isn't as gender-inclusive as it should be, and Wall Street insider Sallie Krawcheck is trying to change that.

The former Citigroup CFO is trying to catalyze a change with Ellevest, a digital investing and wealth management company that she co-founded. It was No. 45 this year on CNBC's Disruptor 50 List.

"About the most powerful thing you can do to help a society and economy is get more money in the hands of women," Krawcheck told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday.

Krawcheck said she was at first skeptical about the need for an investing platform focused on women.

"Then the more I thought about it, when I realized, it doesn't matter whether I think women need their own thing. The numbers were telling me that we do," she said on "Mad Money."

The vast majority of investment advisers are men — about 86%, according to Ellevest's website.

And 98% of mutual-fund money is managed by men, Krawcheck said, "despite the research that tells you women are as good, certainly not worse, investors than men."

While Wall Street prides itself on a strict adherence to data and improving returns, Krawcheck said it hasn't yet "tapped into a really very powerful means of driving greater performance, which is cognitive diversity, which is often driven by diversity of gender, background, perspective, et cetera."

"So here you have this, in theory, pure meritocracy that is not at all diverse," she said.

Ellevest, which is valued around $140 million and uses ETFs for its clients, is tailored to the lives of women in small and large ways, Krawcheck said.

In more obvious ways, she said, Ellevest considers the longer life expectancy of women, which may necessitate a different investing strategy .

But in perhaps a less noticeable way, Ellevest noticed that "men would invest through verbiage jargon," Krawcheck said, saying they might proceed forward despite not understanding a foreign term.

Women, on the other hand, are like, "Whoa, let me get out the old finance dictionary," she said. "We have about a thousand little differences."

Krawcheck said she knows that traditional investing platforms may suit some women "just fine."

"But there is a big need there for an offering that is just focused on women," she said.

Krawcheck said that the gender investing gap is costing women "hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars."

"You also care because for the next generation. There is not one of us, no matter how traditional you are, that wants our daughters to have less money than our sons," she said.

It improved production on the Model 3 from last year while cutting operating expenses, and turned a profit that surprised investors. It said it's ahead of schedule on its Shanghai factory and production of its Model Y crossover. The news sent its stock up almost 30% for the week.

But Tesla was silent or vague on three important matters: service, its Panasonic partnership, and precisely how the company improved its gross margins.

On the last earnings call of 2018, CEO Elon Musk said that customer service would be a personal priority in 2019. But Tesla has not ramped up service locations to deal with the higher volume of cars it has been selling, and higher number of its cars that are aging in the field.

Last year, Tesla delivered 245,240 vehicles to customers. The year before it delivered just over 100,000 vehicles. The company is promising to deliver more than that -- at least 360,000 vehicles -- in 2019, and has already delivered around 255,000.

But Tesla stores and service centers now number 413, according to this week's quarterly update, a paltry 18% increase from a year ago.

Instead, Tesla has opted to invest in its mobile service fleet -- technicians who come to the customer's car to fix what they can, wherever it is parked. Its mobile service fleet has increased from 373 to 719 over the past year, a 93% bump, according to the Q3 update.

Those Tesla "rangers," as they were originally called, can't fix everything. Each mobile service technician needs to spend a good portion of their time in transit to the customer's car, as well. That means they can't complete as many jobs in a day as a team of technicians in a shop.

Many customers already have to wait days, if not weeks, to get their vehicles repaired by Tesla, according to numerous CNBC interviews with customers and widespread reports. And while they wait, only some get loaner Teslas -- others get rental car or ridesharing credits with services like Uber.

Failure to improve service could hurt Tesla's reputation, which suffered after Consumer Reports downgraded the reliability of the Model 3 in February. Customers willing to pay more than $40,000 for a compact SUV, like Tesla's forthcoming Model Y, will expect service to be readily available, without long drives or wait times.

Tension between Tesla and its biggest partner, Panasonic, has ratcheted up in recent quarters.

Earlier this year, Musk blamed the Japanese battery cell supplier for missed goals and production woes, saying "It was physically impossible to make more Model 3's in Q1 due to cell constraints."

Soon thereafter, Panasonic and Tesla announced they would freeze their plans to expand battery-making capacity at their massive Gigafactory plant in Sparks, Nevada. In press interviews, Panasonic executives expressed hesitation about working with Tesla in any similar arrangement for their new Gigafactory in Shanghai.

Last quarter, Tesla acquired a battery tech firm called Maxwell. Then, Musk announced plans for a "battery day" to show investors how much of an edge his car company has on electric vehicle battery tech (it has not yet happened). Tesla's ambitions to make its own battery cells were revealed, along with a secret battery R&D lab, in June. And recently, Tesla acquired a Canadian battery manufacturing firm called Hibar.

By failing to discuss the Panasonic relationship on the Q3 call, Tesla left shareholders with very little visibility into whether or not it has secured the long-term supply of battery cells it expects to need to ramp up Model 3 production in Shanghai.

Tesla set a personal best in the third quarter of 2019 by delivering more cars than it ever had before in a single period, but those cars had a lower average sales price than cars they sold in previous quarters. That helped push its automotive revenue down 12% year-over-year, and remain about flat versus the previous quarter.

Yet, Tesla was able to improve its automotive gross margins by a few points over the previous quarter, from 18.9% to 22.8%, which approaches the 25.8% automotive gross margins they achieved at the same time last year.

The company did not explain how it achieved this margin improvement, however.

On the earnings call, CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said revenue recognition from Tesla's Autopilot software upgrades, including the launch of a Smart Summon feature in the third quarter, contributed $30 million to its bottom line. There were also other "non-recurring items" that contributed to profitability, but the company didn't explain further.

Here's what Kirkhorn said about margins:

"We achieved these improvements through higher production volumes on S, X and Model 3, enabling better fixed cost absorption. We realized improvements in labor hours per vehicle as well as other costs, such as warehousing, logistics, delivery and import related items. We are also making continued progress reducing material costs, including commercial negotiations with suppliers."

Other details would help investors understand whether this quarter's margin improvement paves the way for sustained profitability. For example, what kind of deals did Tesla get from their suppliers? Were they rebates, or more lasting discounts? How did the auto maker lower material costs, are they changing vendors or deciding some components aren't necessary? And if Tesla needs "fewer labor hours per vehicle," does that mean it has finally mastered robotics and automation in its factories? And how will that impact headcount?

Tesla gave investors an ear full of good news in a third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

Some of these details may follow in the company's quarterly earnings filing with the SEC, which could drop any time.

WATCH: CNBC's full interview with Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm