Are Huge Q4 Deliveries Setting Up Tesla for a Big 2022?

By Chris Lange Published Jan 3, 11:45AM EST

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Are Huge Q4 Deliveries Setting Up Tesla for a Big 2022? — © Andrei Stanescu / Getty Images

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) rang in the New Year making lots of noise on Wall Street after its fourth-quarter delivery numbers massively beat expectations. Analysts are scrambling now to raise their price targets for the electric vehicle (EV) behemoth, as 2022 could be another big year for Tesla.

According to the numbers, Tesla achieved production of more than 305,000 vehicles and made deliveries of over 308,000 vehicles for the fourth quarter. The consensus estimate for deliveries in the period was 276,900. In terms of the full year, Tesla reported total production of 930,422 vehicles and deliveries of 936,172.

Looking ahead to the 2022 full year, if Tesla keeps up its production, it could easily eclipse the 1 million vehicle mark, and that has investors and analysts alike very bullish on the stock.

Cowen is one of the exceptions among analysts. While the firm was impressed with this most recent development with deliveries, Cowen still reiterated a Market Perform rating. According to the brokerage house, Tesla posted fourth-quarter deliveries well above its 260,500 estimate. Cowen believes the buyside consensus was between 290,000 and 295,000.

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For 2022, Cowen believes that, for Tesla to remain successful, it must continue to ramp up production in Austin and Berlin while maintaining growth in China. So far Tesla has managed to shrug off the chip supply crunch and ramp up Shanghai production fairly quickly.

A few other analysts have recently weighed in, albeit more on the bullish side:

Argus reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $1,313 from $1,010 on December 28, 2021.
Deutsche Bank reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $1,200 from $1,000 on January 3, 2022.
RBC Capital Markets reiterated it as Sector Perform and raised its $950 price target to $1,005 on January 3, 2022.

Tesla stock was last seen up over 10% for the day, trading around $1,169. The stock has a 52-week range of $539.49 to $1,243.49 and a consensus price target of $851.98.

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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.