- Tesla delivered 90,650 cars in the second quarter, topping Wall Street expectations by around 20,000.
- Most other automakers saw sales drop as much as 34% during the three-month period marked by the coronavirus.
- Shares of Tesla surged as much as 10% following the release.
- CEO Elon Musk suggested in a leaked email earlier this week that the company could once again break even financially.
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Tesla sold 20,000 more cars in the second quarter than Wall Street expected, despite shuttering its only US factory due to the coronavirus (TSLA)
Tesla on Thursday reported second quarter vehicle production delivery numbers that easily topped what Wall Street analysts had expected.
When the dust settled after a quarter marked by coronavirus shutdowns at its only US car factory and a very public spat with regulators, the company delivered 90,650 vehicles to customers where analysts had expected around 70,000. Model 3 and Y made up about 88% of the cars sold, in line with expectations.
"While our main factory in Fremont was shut down for much of the quarter, we have successfully ramped production back to prior levels," the company said in a press release.
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Investors welcomed the good news, sending shares of Tesla up nearly 10% in early trading, solidifying its position as the world's most valuable automaker after passing Toyota's market capitalization earlier this week.
"We have seen a strong bounce back in deliveries across the US over the past few weeks in the month of June as the lockdown has started to ease," Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, told clients.
For many companies across Wall Street, the three-month period has been rocked by uncertainty as the pandemic swept the country, shaking consumer confidence and forcing many businesses to close.
But for Tesla, which tends to cater to a wealthier car buyer than its Detroit counterparts, the pain was more acute. Overall, auto sales were expected to fall more than one-third in the second-quarter, with number released by GM, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota all sinking near that amount. Tesla's deliveries, meanwhile, are only 5% fewer than the same period last year and a slight uptick from the first quarter of 2020.
Now, all eyes are on Tesla's resulting balance sheet from the quarter when it reports earnings in the coming weeks (no date has yet been confirmed).
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"Breaking even is looking super tight," CEO Elon Musk said in a leaked email this week ahead of the quarter's end. "Really makes a difference for every car you build and deliver. Please go all out to ensure victory!"
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