Tesla shatters Wall Street delivery projections despite coronavirus closure
Tesla has potential to climb even higher after 'major home run'
Tesla Inc. reported higher second-quarter production and deliveries than Wall Street projected despite the shutdown of its main plant for about half the period because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Palo Alto, California-based electric-vehicle maker produced 82,272 vehicles during the three months through June and delivered 90,650.
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The performance was a “major home run," according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who earlier raised his 12-month price target to $1,250 a share, up from $1,000. In a bull-case scenario, Ives believes shares could reach $2,000.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 320.72 | +9.54 | +3.07% |
Strong demand for the company’s vehicles in China and a million-mile battery will be the catalyst for a continued move higher, he said.
“We believe with demand for Model 3's ramping stronger than expectations in China heading into the summer timeframe, the lockdown easing in the US/Europe, and some potentially "game changing" battery developments on the horizon," Tesla has room for further gains, Ives wrote.
Tesla’s Shanghai Gigfactory appears to be on track to hit 100,000 deliveries during its first year, and the company’s growth story in the country is worth about $400 per share, he said, adding that a million-mile battery, which could “potentially last for decades,” is getting closer.
TESLA REPLACES TOYOTA AS WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE AUTOMAKER
Tesla surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday as the world’s most valuable automaker, reaching a market capitalization of $208 billion. Toyota finished the day with a market value of $172 billion.
The electric-vehicle maker, which will likely report its second-quarter results at the end of July, will be hard-pressed to avoid a loss during the three months through June because of COVID-19.
Musk told employees in an internal email that “breaking even is looking super tight” and asked them to go “all out” to help the automaker turn a profit. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expect an adjusted loss of $1.36 per share on revenue of $4.83 billion.
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Shares were up 168 percent this year through Wednesday, outperforming the S&P 500’s 3.56 percent decline.