Investor's Corner

Tesla’s (TSLA) record quarter draws new price target from Goldman Sachs

A Tesla Model X. (Photo: Andres GE)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) received an upgraded price target from Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney on Monday morning following a strong Q3 showing in vehicle deliveries. Delaney maintained a “Hold” rating but boosted the outlook for the electric automaker’s stock from $295 to $400.

Delaney has a 66% success rate and an average return of 8.4%, according to TipRanks.com.

Tesla reported a record quarter in terms of vehicle deliveries last week, with 139,300 electric cars making it to customers in Q3. Tesla produced 145,036 cars during the quarter.

It was the company’s biggest quarter yet, surpassing the Q4 2019 mark that saw Tesla change hands with 112,000 of its all-electric cars.

Goldman Sachs has been relatively bullish on Tesla stock. In mid-September, a note to investors indicated that the electric automaker’s Smartphone application saw a 20% Year-over-Year increase in downloads. This indicated to the Wall Street firm that deliveries were growing as many functions of a Tesla vehicle are available through the application.

Tesla releases Q3 2020 results: New record reached with nearly 140k deliveries

With the third quarter of 2020 coming to a close, Tesla will dial in on meeting its yearly expectations, including a delivery goal of 500,000 cars. The strong showing from the electric automaker in Q3 gave a sizeable boost to the company’s delivery figures in 2020 so far.

Tesla was looking likely to deliver at least 500,000 cars this year handily. Still, the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down both the Shanghai and Fremont production plants at the beginning of the year, certainly derailed the company’s momentum moving into the second quarter of 2020.

Since Tesla has fully-reopened both of its vehicle manufacturing facilities, it has regained momentum and has established 2020 as one of the most effective dates in company history.

Giga Shanghai delivered the first Model 3 to a Chinese customer in January, Tesla began developing the land at the Giga Berlin plant a few days after the new year, and the Model Y crossover started deliveries in March. All three of these developments have increased Tesla’s overall reach to different markets.

China has the largest car market globally. Europe has the biggest market share of EVs on the planet, and the Model Y gave Tesla a chunk of the crossover market, which has been one of the more popular body styles recently due to its versatility.

On Wall Street, TSLA stock has increased in value by almost five-fold so far in 2020. After the price per share rocketed to over $2,000 a piece, the company performed a 5:1 stock split on August 31. This allowed young and retail investors to get in on the all-electric car company’s surge to become the most valuable automaker in the world.

At the time of writing, TSLA stock was up $16.28, or 3.88%, at $431.62.

Disclaimer: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.

Tesla’s (TSLA) record quarter draws new price target from Goldman Sachs
To Top