Will Tesla Post a Record Q1?

By Chris Lange Published Apr 29, 10:59AM EDT

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Will Tesla Post a Record Q1? — © jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results after the markets close on Wednesday. For the first quarter, the consensus estimates are a net loss of $0.36 per share and $5.9 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had a net loss of $2.90 per share and $4.54 billion in revenue.

In the fourth quarter, automotive sales increased 1% year over year to $6.37 billion, with a gross margin of 22.5%. Tesla reported record deliveries of 112,095 in the fourth quarter. Separately, the company reported record storage deployment of 530 MWh and 26% solar growth quarter over quarter.

While the economy has fallen into a recession and while the data coming in the days and weeks ahead may be grim, Tesla managed to produce 102,672 cars in the first quarter of 2020. The company delivered 88,400 cars in the first quarter as well.

Though Tesla showed that this was its best first-quarter production report yet, much of the impact of the instant recession was not felt until March. The independent research firm Argus also had just downgraded Tesla ahead of these figures.

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Tesla reported that the Model 3/Y saw 87,282 units produced and 76,200 delivered. Its Model S/X saw production of 15,390 units and some 12,200 deliveries. Some 7% of its cars are listed as subject to lease accounting, with 16% being in the Model S/X and 5% being in the Model 3/Y.

Excluding Wednesday’s move, Tesla stock had outperformed the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 with a gain of about 84% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the share price was nearly 220% higher.

Here’s what a few analysts said about Tesla ahead of the report:

Baird’s Hold rating comes with a $525 price target.
Morgan Stanley has a Hold rating and a $440 price target.
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with an $864 price target.
Credit Suisse has a Hold rating and a $580 target price.
Merrill Lynch rates it as Underperform with a $485 target.
Wedbush has a Hold rating with a $425 price target.

Tesla stock traded at $795.25 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $176.99 to $968.99. The consensus price target is $458.88.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.