Tesla Blows Through Analysts' Forecasts -- April 3, 2021

Re-posting as a stand-alone.

Color me impressed, what semiconductor shortage? Tesla's numbers. Earlier I suggested the number to watch was 160,000. Elon Musk blew past that number with reports that 184,800 Tesla vehicles were delivered in the first quarter. That's really, really impressive on so many levels. Analysts had projected only 168,000, which would have been a good number. He now says he wants to increase global deliveries by more than fifty percent this year. Right now, and for quite some time to come, it looks like Tesla's biggest competitors are Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG. From the linked WSJ article:

Deliveries of Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles in the first quarter totaled around 2,020. Tesla handed over about 182,780 Model 3 sedans and Model Y compact sport-utility vehicles combined. Tesla doesn’t disclose deliveries by region.

Tesla also said it produced 180,338 vehicles in the quarter, all of them Model 3s or Model Ys.

The company said the new Model S and Model X have been “exceptionally well received,” adding that it is in the early stages of boosting production after installing and testing new equipment.

The strong delivery numbers are poised to underpin what Wall Streets expects to be robust first-quarter earnings for Tesla, due in a few weeks. Sales are expected to top $10 billion, helping generate around $470 million in profit, according to a FactSet survey of analysts before the latest delivery figures were posted.

Tesla is aiming to open two new vehicle factories this year, one near Austin, Texas, and the other outside of Berlin. That plant will be the company’s first in Europe, the world’s largest electric-vehicle market as of last year, and is seen as key to improving Tesla’s fortunes in the region.

Tesla registrations in Western Europe slipped roughly 11% last year compared with 2019, as auto makers such as Volkswagen and Renault SA gained traction in the all-electric vehicle market.