There was a case where material news was released on Twitter. It lead to SEC adjusting their regulation to allow for social media to be an official news outlet for material information so long as the company discloses that it is a source of information ahead of time.

Edit: here's an article referring to the change http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f8c96f0e-832c-...

One other point is that what you were referring to is not related to what OP was suggesting. You're talking about how the information is distributed. oP was referring to when it is distributed (too close to earnings).

I believe OP was wrong with regards to a restriction on when information can be released relative to earnings. Elon could have tweeted it a few days ago and it wouldn't have made a difference to the SEC in regards to the timing of the release.

But OP isn't referring to insider trading. The comment was in regards to the timing of the information. The only time that I believe executives are restricted is during/after an IPO.

Another issue is making sure that material information is disclosed properly. Elon was essentially hinting that they were going to have a really good quarter. That kind of information is material and would likely need to be disclosed properly to all investors at once. However, I believe disclosing that information has nothing to do with the timing of earnings release. A company can disclose any information it would like at anytime, so long as it does so properly.

If I'm wrong, please let me know in reply. I'm very curious about whether I am making a mistake.