Tesla Beats Wall Street Expectations With 112,000 Fourth Quarter Deliveries

Tesla posted 112,000 vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter, beating out Wall Street’s expectations of 106,000 vehicles delivered. Shares of the automaker are up about $10 in pre-market trade as Wall Street reacts to the news, which seems to be adding fuel to the ongoing short squeeze fire that has seen Tesla shares rocket over the last several months. 

The “beat” allowed Tesla to meet its year end delivery target, which had stood ambitiously at between 360,000 and 400,000 total vehicles delivered for 2019, according to CNBC. This marked a 45% to 65% increase from 2018. 

The company’s delivery number is widely watched, as it is the closest way for analysts and investors to get an idea of how the company’s sales are tracking.

The company said it delivered 92,500 Model 3 cars in and 19.450 Model S and Model X vehicles during the most recent quarter. Wall Street had estimated 87,900 Model 3, 9,800 Model S and 9,300 Model X vehicles.

Earlier this week, Elon Musk made an appearance at the company’s Fremont car factory and delivery center to help “cheer on” employees and meet with Tesla cultists waiting in line to pick up their cars. Customers who had their car delivered this year still qualified for a $1,875 tax credit that they would not qualify for if their car was delivered in 2020. 

Also worth noting is Tesla’s use of the term “cash deliveries”, which it started using in the 3rd quarter but has yet to define. This makes it tough to tell if deliveries are comparable to previous quarters. 

The company delivered more cars than it produced in the third quarter, manufacturing 96,155 cars and delivering 97,000 vehicles.