Tesla delivered 254,695 vehicles in the second quarter, below estimates for 264,000. Covid lockdowns and restrictions significantly reduced Shanghai plant production for much of the quarter. CEO Elon Musk has also cited supply-chain woes for limiting output elsewhere. Tesla stock rose Tuesday.
Wall Street had revised down estimates throughout the quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet on average expect Tesla to deliver 264,000 vehicles in Q2, with forecasts ranging from Deutsche Bank's 245,000 and Wedbush's 250,000 to a high of 272,000.
Tesla delivered 242,169 Model 3/Y vehicles and 16,411 Model S/X vehicles. It also said it produced 258,580 vehicles. Last year, Tesla delivered 201,250 units in Q2. In Q1 2022, the company delivered 310,048 units.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives adjusted his 2022 deliveries outlook as a result.
"While the year started out with 1.5 million to 1.6 million units as the bogey for 2022 deliveries (with a stretch goal of 1.7 million), now the whisper bogey is closer to 1.4 million for the year given the China issues coupled by global supply chain issues," he wrote in a report to clients.
Ives added that the "elephant in the room for Tesla (and the broader market) is with dark economic storm clouds on the horizon." However, he remains confident about Tesla's "overall demand picture staying firm."
Austin, Berlin Factories Launch
The EV maker opened its Austin, Texas, factory in April, right after launching production at its Berlin plant in late March. Tesla had expected a slow ramp-up in production, with the Berlin facility in particular not entirely finished. But even so, output has been light.
CEO Elon Musk recently said in a recently released video interview with Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley on May 31 that the two new factories were losing billions of dollars due to battery shortages and supply disruptions from China.
Musk also said that Tesla has struggled to ramp up production in Austin of Model Y SUVs that use its new 4680 cells and structurally integrated battery pack. It has instead had to pivot to using older 2170 cells to keep pushing out cars.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Tuesday Tesla laid off hundreds of Autopilot employees. The report said 200 of the team's 350 workers were let go. The layoffs are the latest in a series of cuts to the company's salaried workforce, which Musk previously announced.
Plant Reboot Planned In Shanghai, Berlin
Tesla reported plans for new Shanghai production shutdowns in July, but these would be planned upgrades. The aim is to substantially increase production capacity to 22,000 vehicles per week.
The Shanghai factory has been producing 17,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles each week since mid June, Reuters reported.
"Our constraints are much more in raw materials and being able to scale up production," Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg last week.
Various reports say Tesla Shanghai will either shut down entirely for two weeks or will shut down the Model Y and Model 3 production lines in turn.
Tesla will also pause production at its plant outside Berlin to tweak production processes, according to German media. The planned stoppage will begin next week and last two weeks, Teslamag reported.
Tesla customers are waiting longer to get their vehicles. Made-in-Germany Model Ys were expected to deliver at the end of June, but Tesla's German website now says to expect delivery between October and December.
Low Berlin plant output and limited Shanghai exports to Europe exacerbated wait times.
For buyers in China, the wait time for made-in-China cars is between 10 and 24 weeks, according to Reuters.
In the U.S., Model 3 estimated delivery times range from September to December. Model S deliveries are expected between November 2022 and February 2023. Meanwhile, Model X and Y vehicles won't be available until well into 2023.
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock bounced back from early losses to gain 2.55% to 699.20 on the stock market today. TSLA stock is still trading below its slumping 50-day line, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Shares are 44% below its 52-week high of 1,243.49.
Its relative strength line has declined over the last several months and has been trending sideways in recent days. Tesla's RS Rating is 34 out of a best-possible 99. Its EPS Rating is 80.
Tesla will report quarterly earnings on July 20.
EV Giant Breaks Out As It Seizes Tesla's Crown
Other EV Stocks
Among other U.S.-based EV makers, Rivian rose 4.5% on Tuesday, while Lucid climbed 1.35%. Among American carmakers making big investments in EVs, General Motors slid edged 0.6%, while Ford lost 1.1%.
GM sold 582,401 vehicles in Q2, down 15%, but topping estimates for 575,911. EV sales totaled 7,300 units.
U.S.-listed shares of German automaker Volkswagen tumbled 5.3%.
Tesla's China-based rival BYD was up 0.3%. Nio rose 3.8%, Li Auto popped 6.1%. Xpeng gained 6.1%.
The Chinese EV startups reported Q2 deliveries on Friday. Nio sold 25,059 EVs in Q2, a 14% year-over-year increase. Xpeng sold 34,422 EVs in Q2, nearly doubling from the same quarter last year. Li Auto sold 28,687 EVs in Q2, up 63% from the year-ago period. And BYD sold a record 134,036 new energy vehicles in June, a 315% increase from a year earlier and overtaking Tesla in global EV sales.
MarketWatch reported that Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh cut price targets for Tesla, Nio and Rivian, citing lingering effects of supply constraints and Covid-related shutdowns in China.
Follow Adelia Cellini Linecker on Twitter @IBD_Adelia.
