Electric vehicle and battery technology company Tesla beat first quarter production and delivery estimates. The Elon Musk-led company said it produced just over 180,000 vehicles and delivered nearly 185,000 vehicles despite the ongoing semiconductor shortage in the auto industry.
That compared to the 168,000 deliveries predicted by analysts, largely thanks to solid demand for the Model Y in China in mid-January.
The news saw Tesla stock rally 4.4% to $691.05, although the stock remains well down on $883.09 records set in January. But investor’s recent reluctance for high-growth, highly-rated stocks may be turning, and Tesla has rallied 13% since 29 March.
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The Q1 update also saw several analysts up target prices for Tesla, with Wedbush number crunchers slapping a $1,000 target on the stock, up from $950.
Morgan Stanley’s base case target price stands at $880, with a high of $1,272 under a bull scenario and $450 under the worst-case scenario.
The investment bank’s analysts referred to Tesla as a ‘double-fly-wheel’ investment, believing that the company can ‘leverage its cost leadership in electric vehicles to aggressively expand its user base, over time generating a higher percentage of revenue from recurring/high-margin services revenue,’ Morgan Stanley said.
But it was not a one-way street, with Jefferies lowering its target price to $700 from $775. The average target is currently pitched at $712.50, according to Refinitiv data.
