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Tesla Inc.’s massive stock rally continued Thursday after the Silicon Valley car maker easily topped sales expectations for the second quarter.
Tesla TSLA, +6.45% said early Thursday that it delivered roughly 90,650 vehicles in the second quarter, ahead of the 72,000 deliveries that analysts surveyed by FactSet had been predicting. Tesla’s actual delivery count, its proxy for sales, also came in comfortably above even the highest estimate tracked by FactSet, which was 86,000.
The stock rose nearly 9%, trading as high as $1,228 and poised for another closing record.
Tesla delivered 80,050 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles combined in the period, as well as 10,600 Model S and Model X vehicles in aggregate.
The company announced that it produced 82,000 vehicles in the June quarter, though production in its main Fremont, Calif., factory was shut down for much of the quarter. Tesla’s factory there is now producing cars back at pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
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“In our opinion, a 90,000 delivery number in this COVID lockdown environment is a jaw dropper and the bulls will run with this as a potential paradigm changer moving ahead,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote after the delivery numbers came out, calling the numbers a “major home run.” His research indicates that China “appeared to be the star of the show” in the second quarter, though Tesla didn’t provide any regional breakdowns in its release.
Prior to Tesla’s delivery report, Ives upped his price target on the stock to $1,250 from $1,000, even while maintaining a neutral rating. He also said that his bull case target is now $2,000.
Wrote Ives: “We believe that the China growth story is worth at least $300 per share and $400 in a bull case to Tesla as this [electric vehicle] penetration is set to ramp significantly over the next 12 to 18 months, along with major battery innovations coming out of Giga 3,” the company’s Shanghai factory.
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Tesla shares have rallied nearly 150% over the past three months and they’ve gained 400% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.64% is up 23% over a three-month span and 4.8% over the past year.
