Tesla Q2 deliveries sink 4.8% but beat Street estimates

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is extending on its recent rally this morning after coming in ahead of Street estimates for production and deliveries in the second quarter. 

Shares of the electric vehicles behemoth are now up a whopping 55% versus their year-to-date low. 

How many vehicles did Tesla deliver in Q2?

Tesla delivered a total of 443,956 vehicles in the second quarter of 2024. In comparison, analysts were at 439,000. 

Still, the EV giant did see its deliveries slide about 4.8% on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter. It’s the second quarter for Tesla to be in the red (YoY) in terms of quarterly deliveries since 2020. 

The year-on-year decline in deliveries may be related to rising competition particularly in China. Tesla stock does not currently pay a dividend. 

Wells Fargo recommends selling Tesla stock

Tesla has been resorting to incentives including discounts to boost sales in 2024. 

Those who choose to buy a Tesla by the end of this month in China, for example, can benefit from a zero-interest loan. At a little under $22 billion, its revenue in the largest Asian economy made up 22.5% of its overall sales in 2023. 

Ahead of TSLA production and deliveries update, Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan talked of “declining delivery growth driven by lower demand and diminished return on price cuts” in a research note that recommended clients to sell Tesla shares. 

Langan forecasts the EV maker to take a hit on its automotive gross margins moving forward as well. Tesla stock is still down about 10% versus the start of 2024.

Tesla will soon publish its Q2 earnings report 

Note that Tesla produced a total of 410,831 vehicles in the second quarter. 

Investors will now focus on its full earnings report for Q2 that’s scheduled for July 17th. Consensus is for it to earn 47 cents a share versus 78 cents per share a year ago. TSLA is slated to reveal its robotaxi or “CyberCab” in early August as well. 

Also on Tuesday, Tesla said it deployed a record 9.4 GWh of energy storage products in the second quarter – up significantly from 4,053 MWh in the prior quarter. 

Last month, Elon Musk – the billionaire chief executive of Tesla Inc told investors that the Austin-headquartered firm is “tracking” toward up to 300% annualised increase in energy storage and deployment of stationery pack. 

Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley sees TSLA energy business as “uniquely positioned to benefit from investment in the U.S. electrical grid accelerated by the AI boom”.