So asking a representative subset of Tesla’s employees what their numbers are going to be prior to reveal is not insider trading? If that’s the case then I need to start gathering fundes enough to pay them for the info and make a huge bet.
But, say, inferring that a retailer will do well by counting cars in the parking lot or doing customer polls would be fine in the US. The customers can talk all they want.
(Not legal advice. I get this from Matt Levine, who is also not a lawyer.)
It’s worth noting that if you got that information by virtue of working for a company that did such research, and that company had a policy preventing you from sharing that information, then you could be found guilty of insider trading, under the misappropriation theory.