Elon Musk attends ‘Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk’ during the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 – Day Three in Cannes, France on June 19, 2024.
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of Tesla The share price rose enough on Friday to erase its loss for the year and bring its gains for the week to 27%.
Shares of the electric vehicle maker closed Friday at $251.55. They ended last year at $248.48 and fell to $138.80 in April.
The latest rally was sparked by a better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries report on Tuesday. While deliveries were still down 4.8% from a year earlier, the drop was less steep than the first-quarter drop and gave investors reason to be optimistic about the second half.
In April, Tesla shares fell to a 52-week low following a series of troubling developments. Sales at the automaker’s core fell in the first quarter, the company cut through sweeping layoffs, and there were References that Tesla had canceled plans to soon produce a low-cost family car at its Texas factory.
Tesla is set to deliver second-quarter financial results after the bell on July 23. Auto industry gross margins are likely to be in focus.
Since last year, Tesla has been offering extensive discounts and incentives to lure customers to its aging lineup of electrics, including the popular entry-level Model 3 sedan, the Model Y crossover utility vehicle and the more expensive flagships Model S sedan and Model X SUV.
In late 2023, Tesla began selling its angular Cybertruck. A Tesla Cybertruck account on social networking site X posted Thursday that the truck had become the best-selling all-electric pickup in the U.S. in the second quarter.
Ford said Sales of its all-electric model, the F-150 Lightning, totaled 7,902 in the second quarter and 15,645 through June of this year.
Tesla did not respond to CNBC’s request for more information.
Beyond the upcoming earnings report, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts wrote in a note Tuesday that they expect a marketing event — Tesla’s Robotaxi Day — early next month to be a catalyst for the stock.
“TSLA has previously revealed plans for a Robotaxi (or Cybercab), which the company plans to unveil on August 8,” they wrote. “While we don’t expect this area to start before 2027, we expect it to be an important business area for the company in the long term.”
However, Cantor Fitzgerald expects Tesla to deliver fewer cars this year than last year. The firm has a $230 price target on Tesla and recommends buying the stock.
While Tesla has recovered, it has lagged the broader market for the year. The Nasdaq rose 22% in 2024 and the S&P 500 gained 17%. Tesla rose 1.2%.
ONE recent Axios Harris poll found that the company is facing brand degradation, which is at least in part due to Musk’s “antics” and “political rants.” New York Times research out this week he also said Musk’s “polarizing statements” and “political activism” are alienating some “left-wing consumers.”
Tesla is still years behind on delivering software that can turn its existing vehicles into self-driving cars. Musk announced on October 19, 2016, that all Tesla cars produced at the time had the necessary hardware to make them autonomous. But to end of Junesaid that another hardware and sensor setup is on the way to enable this feature.
I’M WATCHING: Tesla’s deliveries are ‘overanalyzed’
