Investor's Corner
Tesla soars past $700 with help from optimism after strong EV sales in China
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) soared past the $700 threshold earlier today after strong electric vehicle sales figures in China from rival companies promoted optimism regarding Tesla’s potential July delivery figures. Fueled by a recent price reduction of the Model 3 Standard Range+ variant in July, forward-looking projections could hint toward a strong July for Tesla, building upon the robust Q2 figures the company established in China.
Tesla has not surpassed the $700 level since late April 2021 and has experienced a tumultuous 2021 due to supply chain shortages and unexpected bottlenecks in production due to excessive demand. Tesla has continued to build upon a streak of quarters that have resulted in increases in production and delivery rates, along with eight straight marks of profitability following last week’s Q2 2021 Earnings Call.
But, news that helps Tesla stock is not always directly related to Tesla’s performance as an individual automaker. Reports out of China this morning were bullish for the EV sector as a whole, as domestic automakers Nio, Li Auto, and Xpeng reported strong delivery figures for July. Nio accumulated 7,931 deliveries, bringing its 2021 total to 49,887, a number that eclipses its 2020 delivery figures for the entire year. It was not a record month for Nio, as June had 152 more vehicle deliveries, but the overall outlook is increasing due to Year-to-Date figures thus far. Nio stock rose 3% on news of its growth story. Li Auto was up 3.2% on news that it delivered 8,589 vehicles in July, a record for the company. Xpeng also traded at a gain of 7.3% and established a new monthly record with 8,040 vehicle deliveries.
This brings in the potential momentum builder for Tesla. The company has regularly been atop the vehicle sales leaderboard in China with the Model 3 and Model Y, dominating much of the competition and only being eclipsed by the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV, which is priced significantly lower due to less standard features. As domestic EV companies in China continue to build upon their growing sales figures monthly, Tesla, with its strong consumer base, favorable vehicle quality, and wide range of options, is looking to set another month aside with delivery figures that could rival its own records.
In June, Tesla delivered 33,155 vehicles, just a few hundred units off of its strong May, which yielded 33,463 cars making their way to customers. The small slide in delivery figures is not a concern, however. The CPCA recently stated that the EV market is expected to more than double to 2.4 million units this year, setting Tesla up for a continuing growth trend as the second half of 2021 kicks off. Unlike other automakers, Tesla does not report its delivery figures. They are instead compiled by the CPCA and will be published later this month. Expectations are that Tesla could deliver strong figures after reducing the price of its SR+ Model 3 in July.
Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus becomes even more competitive in China
The bullish trend of the EV market in China continues to work in favor of Tesla, which has established itself as the main player in the electric vehicle market in the country.
At the time of writing, Tesla stock was trading at $716.27, up 4.23%.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 aborted at Zero and Musk just told us what broke
Four Raptor engines failed to ignite at T-zero, forcing SpaceX to scrub Starship Flight 13 Thursday.
SpaceX scrubbed the Starship Flight 13 launch attempt Thursday evening at the last possible moment, after four of the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite during the startup sequence. The 90-minute window had opened at 6:45 p.m. EDT from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, and the countdown had proceeded without issue all day, with more than 11.5 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen being fully loaded into the rocket before the automated abort triggered. SpaceX’s launch directors posted on X, “Standing down from today’s flight test attempt,” and shut down the livestream shortly after.
Musk confirmed the root cause within hours. “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” he wrote on X. “To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed and replaced. Most probable launch timing is early next week.” SpaceX engineers began draining propellant tanks immediately and Booster 20 was rolled back to its hangar for inspection.
The timing adds a layer of significance that did not exist during any of the previous 12 Starship flights. This is the first time SpaceX has attempted to launch Starship since the company made its stock market debut in June, listing under ticker SPCX at $135 per share. Public investors are now watching every Starship outcome in real time, and a last-second abort carries more visibility than it would have six months ago.
Flight 13 was designed to be one of the most consequential tests in the program’s history. It was set to carry 20 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload Starship has ever attempted to deploy. Six of those satellites carried external cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield from the outside during flight, which would act as a self-inspection approach SpaceX has never attempted before. The mission also needed to complete a Raptor engine relight in space, a step SpaceX skipped on Flight 12 in May after losing an engine during ascent. That Flight 12 booster also flipped 90 degrees off course during its boostback burn when five engines failed to reignite.
SpaceX has not announced an official next launch date. Musk’s “early next week” window points to July 21 or 22 at the earliest, pending the engine swap and a return to the pad.
Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli responded to rumors of an imminent bankruptcy that was reportedly being mulled after a report stated the automaker was working with the firm AlixPartners to iron out its next steps.
The company felt a massive loss on Wall Street yesterday, as the report essentially pushed the stock down as much as 55 percent on Tuesday.
The report, published initially by Eletric-Vehicles.com, claimed Lucid was essentially in dire straits and was told by AlixPartners, a commonly used restructuring advisor, to either take shares private or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Lucid’s head of Communications, Nick Twork, immediately challenged the report and stated the company “has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year.”
Now, the company’s CEO is chiming in as well, stating that the report is “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Napoli said:
“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period.
As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.
We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.
My priority is clear: turn this company around. That is where the leadership team and I are focused.
I look forward to providing a full update during our quarterly earnings call on August 4th.”
🚨 Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli calls rumors of financial issues “so far from the facts that they require a direct response.”
Read his full remarks here: https://t.co/t3Pg1NHvzy pic.twitter.com/LvHUPhO4Qf
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 15, 2026
It seems pretty clear that Lucid is confident things will be okay, and, to be honest, they should not have much to worry about, especially considering the company has been backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for years. It has solid financial backing, and its sales, while weak, are pretty much right on par with a company of this age.
Lucid also sent a Cease & Desist letter to the publication for their report.
Lucid shares have rebounded nicely and are up nearly 21 percent at the time of publication. As soon as the company dispelled the rumors of bankruptcy yesterday, the stock began to climb back toward more reasonable levels.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
Tesla enters two new markets on two different continents in one week
SpaceX announces new Starship 13 test flight target date
