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Tesla registers 6,100 new Model 3 VINs amid continued production push

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Tesla has registered 6,160 new Model 3 VINs, amid the company’s continued production ramp for the compact electric car. With the latest batch of new vehicle identification numbers, Tesla has filed a total of 62,557 Model 3 to date.

The recent registrations were shared on Twitter by @Model3VINs, a group that tracks Tesla’s filings for the vehicle. According to the group, the latest batch of Model 3 VINs comprised of Long Range RWD cars — a stark contrast to the 2,237 vehicle identification numbers registered by the company last week, which were largely dual motor AWD.

Tesla’s VIN registrations for the Model 3 had seen a meteoric rise since May, when the electric car and energy company started filing large batches of the vehicle identification numbers. In May, for example, Tesla registered more than 17,900 new Model 3 VINs — a figure that took the company until March 23 to accomplish since starting the car’s production last July 2017.

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Particularly impressive this past June, however, were VIN batches that corresponded to filings for the dual motor AWD variant of the compact electric car. Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla would probably start production of the dual motor AWD and Performance Model 3 sometime in July, when the company has attained a steady production rate of 5,000 Model 3 per week. Midway through last month, however, Musk revealed on Twitter that the first Model 3 Performance has rolled off from a newly-built assembly line, which was set up in a sprung structure on the grounds of the Fremont factory.

The latest Model 3 VIN registrations come amid Tesla’s announcement that it has effectively hit a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 per week. The milestone, which has eluded Tesla since the vehicle started production last year, was teased over the last few weeks of June. In the weeks leading up to the end of Q2 2018, for one, sightings of overflow lots filled with Model 3 were shared by Tesla enthusiasts online. Tweets from workers at Fremont and Gigafactory 1 also teased that the company would hit its target by the end of the quarter. 

 

Even before Elon Musk confirmed the news on Twitter, social media posts from the company’s workers in Fremont teased that the 5,000-a-week Model 3 target had been achieved. Among these was a photograph of a banner being signed by workers at the Fremont factory with the words “Model 3 5K Club” on it. Pictures of workers celebrating at the factory grounds and a Model 3 labeled as “5000th” also made the rounds in social media. Not long after this, Elon Musk himself congratulated the Tesla team on Twitter for producing 7,000 vehicles in one week. A leaked email from Musk later specified that the 7,000-vehicle output was comprised of 5,000 Model 3 and 2,000 Model S and Model X.

The announcement of Tesla’s production milestone for the Model 3 appears to have provided a boost to investors’ sentiments. As of writing, Tesla shares (NASDAQ:TSLA) are trading up 6.28% during pre-market, at $365.44 per share.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla price target boost from its biggest bear is 95% below its current level

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) just got a price target boost from its biggest bear, Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, who raised his expected trading level to one that is 95 percent lower than its current trading level.

Johnson pushed his Tesla price target from $19.05 to $25.28 on Wednesday, while maintaining the ‘Sell’ rating that has been present on the stock for a long time. GLJ has largely been recognized as the biggest skeptic of Elon Musk’s company, being particularly critical of the automotive side of things.

Tesla has routinely been called out by Johnson for negative delivery growth, what he calls “weakening demand,” and price cuts that have occurred in past years, all pointing to them as desperate measures to sell its cars.

Johnson has also said that Tesla is extremely overvalued and is too reliant on regulatory credits for profitability. Other analysts on the bullish side recognize Tesla as a company that is bigger than just its automotive side.

Many believe it is a leader in autonomous driving, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, who believes Tesla will have a widely successful 2026, especially if it can come through on its targets and schedules for Robotaxi and Cybercab.

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Justifying the price target this week, Johnson said that the revised valuation is based on “reality rather than narrative.” Tesla has been noted by other analysts and financial experts as a stock that trades on narrative, something Johnson obviously disagrees with.

Dan Nathan, a notorious skeptic of the stock, turned bullish late last year, recognizing the company’s shares trade on “technicals and sentiment.” He said, “From a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”

Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost

Johnson has remained very consistent with this sentiment regarding Tesla and his beliefs regarding its true valuation, and has never shied away from putting his true thoughts out there.

Tesla shares closed at $431.40 today, about 95 percent above where Johnson’s new price target lies.

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Tesla gets price target bump, citing growing lead in self-driving

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock received a price target update from Pierre Ferragu of Wall Street firm New Street Research, citing the company’s growing lead in self-driving and autonomy.

On Tuesday, Ferragu bumped his price target from $520 to $600, stating that the consensus from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was that Tesla’s lead in autonomy has been sustained, is growing, and sits at a multiple-year lead over its competitors.

CES 2026 validates Tesla’s FSD strategy, but there’s a big lag for rivals: analyst

“The signal from Vegas is loud and clear,” the analyst writes. “The industry isn’t catching up to Tesla; it is actively validating Tesla’s strategy…just with a 12-year lag.”

The note shows that the company’s prowess in vehicle autonomy is being solidified by lagging competitors that claim to have the best method. The only problem is that Tesla’s Vision-based approach, which it adopted back in 2022 with the Model 3 and Model Y initially, has been proven to be more effective than competitors’ approach, which utilizes other technology, such as LiDAR and sensors.

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Currently, Tesla shares are sitting at around $433, as the company’s stock price closed at $432.96 on Tuesday afternoon.

Ferragu’s consensus on Tesla shares echoes that of other Wall Street analysts who are bullish on the company’s stock and position within the AI, autonomy, and robotics sector.

Dan Ives of Wedbush wrote in a note in mid-December that he anticipates Tesla having a massive 2026, and could reach a $3 trillion valuation this year, especially with the “AI chapter” taking hold of the narrative at the company.

Ives also said that the big step in the right direction for Tesla will be initiating production of the Cybercab, as well as expanding on the Robotaxi program through the next 12 months:

“…as full-scale volume production begins with the autonomous and robotics roadmap…The company has started to test the all-important Cybercab in Austin over the past few weeks, which is an incremental step towards launching in 2026 with important volume production of Cybercabs starting in April/May, which remains the golden goose in unlocking TSLA’s AI valuation.”

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Tesla analyst breaks down delivery report: ‘A step in the right direction’

Tesla has transitioned from an automaker to a full-fledged AI company, and its Robotaxi and Cybercab programs, fueled by the Full Self-Driving suite, are leading the charge moving forward. In 2026, there are major goals the company has outlined. The first is removing Safety Drivers from vehicles in Austin, Texas, one of the areas where it operates a ride-hailing service within the U.S.

Ultimately, Tesla will aim to launch a Level 5 autonomy suite to the public in the coming years.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla Q4 delivery numbers are better than they initially look: analyst

The Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner shared his thoughts in a post on his website.

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Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Longtime Tesla analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster has shared his insights on Tesla’s Q4 2025 deliveries. As per the analyst, Tesla’s numbers are actually better than they first appear. 

Munster shared his thoughts in a post on his website. 

Normalized December Deliveries

Munster noted that Tesla delivered 418k vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025, slightly below Street expectations of 420k but above the whisper number of 415k. Tesla’s reported 16% year-over-year decline, compared to +7% in September, is largely distorted by the timing of the tax credit expiration, which pulled forward demand.

“Taking a step back, we believe September deliveries pulled forward approximately 55k units that would have otherwise occurred in December or March. For simplicity, we assume the entire pull-forward impacted the December quarter. Under this assumption, September growth would have been down ~5% absent the 55k pull-forward, a Deepwater estimate tied to the credit’s expiration.

For December deliveries to have declined ~5% year over year would imply total deliveries of roughly 470k. Subtracting the 55k units pulled into September results in an implied December delivery figure of approximately 415k. The reported 418k suggests that, when normalizing for the tax credit timing, quarter-over-quarter growth has been consistently down ~5%. Importantly, this ~5% decline represents an improvement from the ~13% declines seen in both the March and June 2025 quarters.

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Tesla’s United States market share

Munster also estimated that Q4 as a whole might very well show a notable improvement in Tesla’s market share in the United States. 

“Over the past couple of years, based on data from Cox Automotive, Tesla has been losing U.S. EV market share, declining to just under 50%. Based on data for October and November, Cox estimates that total U.S. EV sales were down approximately 35%, compared to Tesla’s just reported down 16% for the full quarter.  For the first two months of the quarter, Cox reported Tesla market share of roughly a 65% share, up from under 50% in the September quarter.

“While this data excludes December, the quarter as a whole is likely to show a material improvement in Tesla’s U.S. EV market share.

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