Tesla is set to announce another record quarter in terms of deliveries of its all-electric vehicles. A new report suggests the electric automaker will benefit from skyrocketing gas prices, which have increased vehicle orders for Tesla over the past few months.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg suggest Tesla will report delivery figures of around 309,158 cars globally, a substantial increase from last year’s mark of 184,800 for the first three months of the year. It is a slight increase from the 308,600 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q4 2021, its most significant delivery mark for any quarter in its history.
Tesla has only increased its manufacturing capacity slightly since Q4 as it recently started delivering vehicles produced at Gigafactory Berlin in Germany. Gigafactory Texas may have contributed to the delivery figures slightly as some Model Y vehicles built at the Austin plant were spotted on roads, but it is unconfirmed whether they were actually delivered to customers and will be included in Tesla’s Q1 2022 delivery metrics.
While profitability and a healthy financial sheet are undoubtedly crucial, Tesla’s delivery numbers are among the most scrutinized metrics when a quarter closes out. Tesla has gained unequivocal recognition as the leader in the EV sector, influencing many companies to transition to a lineup of all-electric vehicles. The company’s delivery figures are often looked at as a metric to determine how quickly electric vehicles are being adopted in the United States and other territories. If data is any indication and Tesla’s metrics are perceived as a representation of EV adoption, things are going well. The automaker has increased quarterly deliveries every quarter since Q1 2020, when various shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Tesla’s streak.
Tesla has depended on just two factories for its global deliveries: the Fremont Factory in Northern California, which manufactures all four Tesla Models, and Gigafactory Shanghai in China, which produces the Model 3 and Model Y. Shanghai also became an export hub for customers in Europe as Tesla waited for approval of the Berlin plant, which came later than initially expected.
The new record quarter could be looked at as just another test for Tesla in a world of uncertainties. As the Shanghai facility has been on lockdown due to a rise in COVID cases in China, the plant’s stagnation could have hindered an even more robust quarter for Tesla. Shanghai delivered more than half of Tesla’s 2021 total vehicle sales, outpacing the Fremont factory. The shutdown could be the reason for Tesla’s first downside in deliveries in two years.
“We see the recent China Covid flare-ups as a potential risk to the downside, given Tesla deliveries are typically weighted toward the end of the quarter,” Credit Suisse analysts Dan Levy said in the Bloomberg report. Levy expects Tesla to post 307,000 deliveries, putting it shy of a quarterly increase.
Tesla could report delivery figures as soon as today, although the automaker has not announced a specific date. Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) were up less than 0.20 percent at noon EST.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
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