Tesla shares soared in pre-market trading Thursday after the automaker said it delivered approximately 90,650 vehicles in the second quarter, handily beating Wall Street expectations as the electric car maker’s sales withstood the economic downturn better than most competitors.
Analysts expected Tesla to deliver about 72,000 vehicles during the last three months, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by FactSet. A broader set of analyst estimates, compiled by Bloomberg, set Wall Street expectations for Tesla higher at 83,000 vehicle deliveries in the second quarter.
Shares of Tesla closed Wednesday up 3.7% to $1,119.63. The company’s stock jumped by about 9% in pre-market trading.
Deliveries are the closest approximation of sales numbers reported by Tesla, and the electric car maker’s held up significantly better than its competitors. Tesla’s deliveries fell by just 4.8% from the same quarter last year even as auto sales the world over, and especially in the U.S., slumped during the quarter after Covid-19 outbreaks led to health restrictions on households, travel and businesses, mass layoffs and wage cuts.
General Motors, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler all saw their second-quarter sales plunge by more than 30% as the coronavirus caused consumers to stay at home and dealerships and factories to shutter. Ford reports its quarterly auto sales later in the day.
Tesla reported combined deliveries of 80,050 Model 3 sedans and Model Y cross-over SUVs, and combined deliveries of 10,600 of the older and more expensive Model S and X vehicles.
The deliveries come a day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out an e-mail congratulating his tens of thousands of employees on their “amazing” execution “in such difficult times.”
In the first quarter of 2020, Tesla said it made more vehicles than it sold with 102,672 units produced, and 88,400 delivered. During the second quarter of 2019, Tesla said it made 87,048 vehicles including 72,531 Model 3s, and delivered 95,200, including 77,550 Model 3s.
During the second quarter, Tesla had to close its main U.S. car plant in Fremont, California for several weeks due to health orders. It slashed pay for salaried workers, and delayed giving raises, promotions and bonuses to employees until after a performance review that should be completed by the end of July.
Musk famously clashed with local health authorities over Covid-19 restrictions on the Fremont plant. He also downplayed the severity and prevalence of Covid-19 in the U.S., even though he delayed the company’s Battery Day and shareholder meeting until September, citing safety for crowds in the face of the novel coronavirus.
In the US, Tesla also faced two new federal safety probes, one over a problem with its vehicle displays, and another over a cooling system in its older Model S vehicles which may pose a fire risk.
In order to stoke demand for the company’s electric vehicles, Tesla cut vehicle prices during the second quarter in North America and China both.
Its Shanghai car plant came back online quickly after a coronavirus-related shutdown, however. Sales in China began to recover with the company selling 11,095 made-in-Shanghai Model 3s there in May, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla did not report how many of these vehicles were produced in Fremont or at its relatively new Shanghai car assembly plant.
On Wednesday, ahead of its deliveries report, Tesla’s valuation edged higher than Toyota’s. The American automaker’s sales are a small fraction of its Japanese predecessor, however. In 2019, Tesla reported deliveries of 367,500 vehicles globally, while Toyota reported sales that were twenty nine times higher at 10.74 million units.
Tesla was expected to meet or beat street expectations for quarterly deliveries, in no small part because Musk has been sending out “Everybody” e-mails to Tesla employees, which signal how the company is doing, and typically leak to press.
He sent one such e-mail on Wednesday around 11 a.m. California time to Tesla employees with the subject line “Congratulations Tesla Team!.” The e-mail said, in its entirety: “Just amazing how well you executed, especially in such difficult times. I am so proud to work with you!”