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In Corte Madera, California, a Tesla automobile charges at a Tesla Supercharger station.
Getty Images/Justin Sullivan
Inventor of electric vehicles
Tesla
In the second quarter, the company delivered 201,250 automobiles, well above the 200,000 mark that would have marked a huge disappointment. However, they do not appear to be good enough to appreciably increase the stock. 200,000 deliveries were the line in the sand for Tesla (ticker: TSLA) investors. More than that should have boosted the stock’s value. It would have been better if there had been less. As a result, the second-quarter result qualifies as a slight “beat” compared to analyst forecasts.
In premarket trade, Tesla shares were down 0.3 percent at $675.68.
S&P 500 Index
and
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that measures how well
The price of futures was up 0.2 percent. However, in early Friday trading, shares were up roughly 1.7 percent. The S&P 500 is up 0.3 percent. Nonetheless, the second-quarter figure marks a new quarterly high. In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla delivered roughly 185,000 vehicles, compared to 181,000 in the fourth quarter of 2020 and about 88,000 in the first quarter of 2020. Growth is ongoing, although investors likely expected higher growth in 2021, with full-year forecasts of over 865,000 deliveries. To meet Wall Street’s projections, Tesla has to deliver around 475,000 units in the second half. In the second quarter, Tesla manufactured more than 206,000 vehicles, up from around 180,000 in the first.
Tesla hasn’t provided any formal delivery estimates for the entire year of 2021. In 2021, Tesla intends to grow at a rate of more than 50%. In 2020, the company expects to deliver around 500,000 vehicles. The amount doesn’t appear to be a large enough surprise to cause a stir in Tesla shares, which has had a wild year. In the first quarter of this year, shares fell nearly 5%, closing at around $668 per share. In January, the stock was trading above $900. The stock rose nearly 2% in the second quarter, closing at around $680. Shares are down slightly year to date as of Friday, underperforming comparable increases in the general market and many other automotive firms that have benefited from the worldwide economic rebound that is driving auto sales. Tesla stock was hit by a number of factors, including rising interest rates—which hurt high-growth stocks like Tesla more than slow-growth equities like traditional automakers—and a semiconductor shortage that slowed global auto production. It took some time for investors to react to those and other variables, and for Tesla stock to recover from its recent lows. Electric vehicle manufacturers in China
NIO
(NIO) as well as
XPeng
(XPEV) announced a high June delivery as well. The stock of NIO began the day up but ended the day down 4.3 percent. XPeng’s stock began the day stronger and ended the day down 1.7 percent. In June, both stocks enjoyed a great run. On the news, investors appear to have sold. They appear to be considering doing the same with Tesla. Bullish investors have been waiting for a new catalyst to break out of the stock’s recent range. Second-quarter deliveries may have been the catalyst, but they will most likely be viewed as excellent rather than exceptional by Wall Street and investors. Investors might anticipate new output from Texas and Germany in the near future. This is expected to happen by the end of 2021. Tesla is also anticipated to launch a subscription service for its higher-level driver assistance software, branded Full Self Driving, soon. Investors will be keeping a careful eye on how well that product is received. Second-quarter earnings, which are expected to be released in late July, are another potential motivator for investors. From $11.3 billion in sales, Wall Street expects 95 cents in earnings per share. In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla earned 93 cents per share. Although the delivery numbers appear to be attainable, issues like as regulatory credit sales can always have an impact on Tesla’s bottom line. By producing more than its fair share of zero-emission automobiles, Tesla earns and sells regulatory credits all across the world. Allen Root can be reached at allen.root@dowjones.com./n
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