Shares of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) spiked last week after the electric car manufacturer reported record deliveries in the second quarter, offering a silver lining for a company that has been dragged through the mud by overwhelmingly bearish sentiment. Although Tesla isn’t out the woods yet, its share price is riding a strong tailwind after hitting multi-year lows back in May.
Record Deliveries, Production
Despite all the negative headlines surrounding Tesla, the company still managed to set new delivery and production records during the second quarter.
Between April and June, the company delivered 95,200 vehicles and produced 87,048 units. Analysts had expected deliveries to hit 91,000, according to FactSet. The delivery numbers were 51.1% higher than the first quarter and exceeded the previous record by 5%.
The Model 3 accounted for the lion’s share of the deliveries. Tesla shipped 77,550 units of the vehicle, beating forecasts calling for 74,100.
The preliminary report, which was released Tuesday night, pointed to a strong third quarter underpinned by a large backlog of orders.
Tesla is considered a bellwether for the electric car market. Rising shipments and new orders suggest growing consumer demand for electric vehicles. But as Tesla has no doubt realized, strong demand has invited a bevy of competitors into the space; combined, they’ve diluted the company’s leadership pace of the electric vehicle market.
Case in point: Tesla’s market share in Norway, a country where electric vehicles account for half of the overall auto market, has fallen sharply. Tesla’s Model 3 is no longer the fastest-selling electric car in the Scandinavian country; that title now belongs to the Volkswagen eGolf.
TSLA Stock Spikes
While it’s still too early to declare Tesla a clear-cut winner, the company’s stock has experienced a dramatic turnaround over the past month.
On June 3, TSLA bottomed at $178.97 a share, its lowest since November 2016 and marking a 42% plunge since the start of the year. On Friday, TSLA closed at $233.10, marking a 30.1% correction from last month’s low.
Source: Yahoo Finance
In terms of percentage gains, Tesla’s June recovery far exceeded the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Like other automakers, Tesla is benefiting from the apparent thawing in U.S.-China trade tensions after presidents Trump and Xi agreed to suspend hostilities and return to the negotiating table. Although Tesla’s China market is much smaller than traditional automakers, its tight balance sheet makes it especially vulnerable to a trade war. That says nothing of Tesla’s $4 billion Gigafactory in China.
Conclusion
Tesla’s 30% correction doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods yet. Growing competition, public scrutiny and a massive cash crunch will continue to influence the market’s perception of the electric car maker. As The Wall Street Journal reported back in May, Elon Musk’s company is considering a multi-billion-dollar bond sale to shore up its liquidity problems.
Disclaimer: Author holds no investment position in Tesla at the time of writing.
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