Tesla has regained its former momentum! Due to better-than-expected sales in the first quarter, Tesla's stock price soared by 27% this week, easily erasing the losses of the past six months, and the market's pessimistic sentiment was completely cleared away.
Tesla's vehicle deliveries in the second quarter decreased by nearly 5% year-over-year, marking the second consecutive quarter of decline. However, this result exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Tesla also maintained its position as the world's top-selling electric vehicle with its second-quarter deliveries.
Driven by the continuous catalyst of second-quarter delivery data, Tesla's stock price rose by 2.1% to $251.52 on Friday, increasing by 27% for the week, and surging by 38% over the past eight trading days, setting a record for the longest winning streak in over a year.
This round of increases also marked the first time Tesla's stock price rebounded in 2024, after hitting a 52-week low in April.
"The worst is over for Tesla, and we believe the electric vehicle demand story is beginning to return to this disruptive tech giant," Wedbush Securities technology analyst Dan Ives wrote on Wednesday, raising his target price for Tesla from $275 to $300 and reiterating an "outperform" rating.
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From a laughingstock to a model, Tesla delivered good results at a critical moment.
A few months ago, Tesla was the laughingstock of Wall Street.
Due to frequent and significant price cuts, automotive gross margins were weakened, and the cooling demand for electric vehicles led to Tesla's first year-over-year decline in deliveries since 2020 in the first quarter. Coupled with increasingly fierce competition in key markets, Tesla's stock price was severely hit. To reduce expenses, Tesla also carried out a high-profile layoff campaign.
At that time, citing Wells Fargo, Tesla was described as a growth stock without growth.
Tesla once lagged behind the other 499 stocks in the S&P 500 index, including scandal-ridden Boeing, and some began to question whether Tesla still deserved to be among the "big seven stocks."Ives once described Tesla's first-quarter deliveries as a "nightmare" and a "complete disaster." After exceeding Wall Street's expectations for second-quarter deliveries, Ives began to believe that Tesla has regained the market's confidence in its growth narrative.
This is a significant counterattack by Tesla and Musk in the second quarter, where Wall Street had anticipated a significant decline, and global electric vehicle demand was still volatile. However, Tesla delivered strong sales results at a crucial moment for investors.
After more than two months of consolidation near $180, bulls now see the potential for further increases in Tesla's stock price.
On one hand, with a significant increase in trading volume, Tesla's stock price has successfully broken through the 200-day moving average. The current trend suggests that Tesla's stock may be about to end a three-year downward trend.
Can the uptrend continue? The next month will be crucial.
Despite better-than-expected deliveries in the second quarter, the challenges facing Tesla have not disappeared.
Tesla is developing affordable electric vehicle models to attract price-sensitive buyers and is also further betting on autonomous driving car technology and humanoid robots.
The second-quarter earnings report, to be released on July 23, may give investors an initial understanding of Tesla's progress in new products. In addition, the automotive gross margin may also become a focus of attention.
Musk also plans to hold an event called Robotaxi Day on August 8, where the robot taxi Robotaxi will be launched for the first time.
In this regard, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald wrote in a report on Tuesday that this event is expected to be an important catalyst for Tesla's stock price.Although we anticipate that this business unit will not be launched before 2027, we do indeed expect that, in the long term, it will become an important segment of the company.
Cantor Fitzgerald forecasts that Tesla's vehicle deliveries this year will be lower than last year. The firm has a target price of $230 for Tesla and has given it a "buy" rating.
It is worth noting that although Tesla's stock price has rebounded significantly, its performance this year has lagged behind the broader market. So far this year, the Nasdaq index has risen by 24%, and the S&P 500 index has increased by 17%, while Tesla has only risen by 1.3%.
Additionally, a recent Axios Harris poll found that Tesla's brand image is declining, partly due to Musk's "antics" and "political remarks." A survey published by the media this week also indicated that Musk's "polarizing statements" and "political activities" are driving away some "left-leaning consumers."