Tesla Inc vehicle deliveries send shares to record high beating Wall Street estimates for the annual vehicle deliveries. After the past few years of turbulence Tesla has met their low-end of the targets which have justified several of CEO Elon Musk's speculations.
Tesla has delivered 112,000 in the fourth quarter, which includes 92550 Model 3's and 19450 Model s/x SUV's. The mass-produced Model 3 sedan sales has picked up since the last quarter. The expectation for the quarter was set at 104,960 vehicles according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The Silicon Valley carmaker delivered approximately 367,500 vehicles during all of 2019, just meeting the low end of its target to deliver 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles in 2019.
Tesla shares were up as much as 5.5% at $454, touching a record high.
The stock has had a strong run in recent months after posting a rare profit in the latest quarter and news of China ramp up. With a market valuation of more than $80 billion, Tesla is far outstripping those of traditional carmakers General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N).
The delivery results defy skeptics of Musk, whose mercurial behavior over the last two years came under close scrutiny from federal regulators and shareholders of Tesla.
Musk, who has more than 30 million Twitter followers, has a history of firing off tweets that resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a defamation trial against him.
The Tesla CEO settled the SEC complaint for $20 million in 2018 and a Los Angeles jury cleared Musk in the defamation case in December.
"Elon has Tesla executing right on track," said Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin.
CHINA RAMP-UP
Tesla also provided an update on its Shanghai factory, which has started churning out Model 3 cars. It said the plant demonstrated a production run-rate capability of more than 3,000 units per week.
The run-rate shows that the factory appears to be ramping faster than expected, Baird Equity Research analyst Ben Kallo said. "Shanghai deliveries should be the next catalyst to drive volume growth."
The $2-billion factory, Tesla's first car manufacturing site outside the United States, is the centerpiece of its ambitions to boost sales in the world's biggest auto market and avoid higher import tariffs imposed on U.S.-made cars.
A company representative on Thursday said that Tesla will deliver its first China-made Model 3 sedans to the public on Jan. 7.
The Model 3 is Tesla's most affordable car, with lower-range versions available starting at $35,000.
Analysts in the past have questioned how rapidly Tesla's vehicle sales will grow as government subsidies for electric vehicle purchases dwindle in the United States, China and other markets. Some analysts consider those subsidies the biggest driver for Tesla purchases.
Traditional automakers largely relying on fuel-powered vehicles on Friday reported a decline in fourth-quarter U.S. sales and saw their shares tumble as a widening conflict with Iran pushed oil prices more than $2 a barrel on Friday.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) on Friday said it saw a 2% fall in U.S. auto sales, while GM reported its fourth-quarter U.S. deliveries were down more than 6%.
"The recently escalating geopolitical uncertainties driving oil prices higher are likely to create a tailwind for TSLA shares," Canaccord Genuity analyst Jed Dorsheimer said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
