Tesla Notches 122% Gain In Quarterly Vehicle Deliveries, But Analysts Wanted More

Tesla Inc., the electric vehicle company led by Elon Musk, said deliveries of its battery-powered cars and crossovers jumped 122% to a new quarterly record as sales and production were aided by continued growth in China. Still, analysts expected an even bigger increase.  

The  Palo Alto, California-based manufacturer reported deliveries of 201,250 vehicles worldwide in 2021’s second quarter, up from 90,650 a year ago. That was short of an expected 207,000 deliveries, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet. (Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected 204,160 deliveries.) It also topped the 184,877 Tesla reported in the first quarter, its previous quarterly record. 

The comparison from a year ago was fairly easy, given production disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 and the ongoing expansion of production in China. The opening of a plant in Shanghai early last year has powered the carmaker’s growth in recent quarters as local production there allows Tesla to sell vehicles to Chinese customers without steep import tariffs. 

“Overall this quarter was an impressive performance from Musk & Co. and now with a strong second-half performance (Tesla) should be able to hit ~900k vehicles for the year, which was a major stretch goal to kick off this year,” Wedbush equity analyst Dan Ives said in a research note.  

Deliveries of Model 3 sedans and Model Y hatchbacks totaled 199,360, while just 1,890 got pricier Model S sedans and X crossovers, vehicles that cost more than $100,000.

Production in the quarter was 206,421, up from 82,272 a year ago. 

“The company stated that its teams have done an outstanding job navigating through global supply chain and logistics challenges, which we concur with, as TSLA has been relatively immune from the shortages of semiconductors and other parts which have plagued other automakers,” CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said in a research note. “We think this is likely due to early supply procurement, as the company entered 2021 with plans for a significant volume ramp.”

Tesla doesn’t provide geographic details in its quarterly release, so it’s unclear how much sales in the U.S. increased from a year ago. The company’s financial results for the quarter are due in a few weeks.

Tesla shares were little changed for the day, gaining just 98 cents to close at $678.90 on Friday.