Tesla Beats Expectations To Achieve Record First Quarter Deliveries

Electric automaker Tesla Inc on Friday posted record deliveries for the January to March quarter, beating Wall Street estimates, as sales gains of the Model 3 and Model Y offset the impact of a global shortage of parts.

The company said on Friday that it delivered 184,800 vehicles to customers worldwide in January through March, more than double the year-earlier figure when the outbreak of Covid-19 briefly halted production at its plants in California and Shanghai. Still, the increase from 2020’s fourth quarter was just 2.2 percent. The company had been expected to report deliveries of about 172,000 units, due to factors including the global shortage of chips and electronic components that has pounded the auto industry this year.

Analysts were expecting Tesla to deliver around 168,000 vehicles during this period, according to estimates compiled by FactSet as of April 1.

“The strength in the quarter was driven by Model 3/Y, which was a jaw-dropper and came in at 182,780 deliveries and crushed the consensus estimate of 160,230 for the quarter with Model S/X at 2,020 vs. 12,060 with the miss chip driven and well telegraphed to the Street,” Wedbush equity analyst Dan Ives said in a research note. “With chip shortages and related production issues the Street was thinking a 160k-165k number was in the cards,” he said, describing the results as a “massive home run” for investors who are bullish on Tesla.

During its most recent earnings call on January 27, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said: “We have been able to bring forward the Plaid Model S and X – Model S will be delivered in February and Model X a little later.” He added that “The Model S Plaid, we’re actually in production now.”