By Zilber
Shares of Tesla jumped by more than 6% in trading on Wall Street on Monday after Elon Musk’s electric car maker reported better-than-expected second quarter delivery numbers.
Musk’s price cuts helped the company deliver 466,140 vehicles in the April to June period, up 10% from the preceding quarter and 83% higher from a year earlier.
The gap between how many cars Tesla produces and delivers also narrowed to 13,560 in the second quarter from 17,933 in the previous three months.
The world’s electric-vehicle leader is projected to deliver1.8 million Teslas this year, topping its record 1.3 million in 2022.
Tesla slashed prices worldwide by up to 20% in January, sparking a price war after the company’s failure to meet Wall Street’s delivery estimates for 2022.
The basic Model Y that used to sell for $65,990 now costs $54,990.
In January, Musk boasted that Tesla could achieve 2 million vehicle deliveries this year, up 52% from last year.
The Tesla billionaire’s gamble that reducing prices would stimulate sales growth appears to have paid off.
“Tesla’s price cuts are working in a big way,” Gene Munster, managing partner at investment firm Deepwater Asset Management, told Reuters.
“The average growth of deliveries over the previous seven quarters was 50%. This (quarter) marks a measurable step up in growth.”
But others were not as impressed.
Short-seller Jim Chanos tweeted that Tesla’s delivery numbers were already price in to the company’s valuation.
“Again, ‘blown away’ is a 4% beat on deliveries with huge price cuts? The $800B valuation might just be discounting that.. $TSLA,” he tweeted.
In a subsequent tweet, Chanos wrote: “Is ‘massive’ 4% for a stock at 10x revenues.. ? Shouldn’t a company trading at that valuation always exceed expectations? $TSLA.”
Chanos, who made his fortune betting against the likes of Enron, WorldCom and Tyco, has been a frequent critic of Tesla.
He first bet against the stock in 2016, but then switched to owning bearish put options in early 2021, according to filings.
While Tesla’s stock has spiked by some 113% this year, it is still trading at more than a third below its peak price of more than $400 per share as of late 2021. The stock closed Monday’s holiday-shortened session at $279.82, up $18.05.
