What happened
Shares of Tesla (TSLA 3.18%) rose 2.1% at one point on Thursday. As of 12:45 p.m. EDT, however, the stock was up 1.3%.
The stock's gain is likely driven by a generally bullish day for many growth stocks, as well as news circulating about strong deliveries coming from Tesla's China factory in July.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
So what
A few days ago, concerns mounted about a drop in China-made vehicles being delivered to customers in the market. Though its 32,968 total vehicles made for delivery during the month were strong, 24,347 of these vehicles were exported. This means that local deliveries decreased 69% from levels in June.
But we're learning on Thursday that there's no reason to fret about deliveries in China. "Tesla makes cars for export in first half of quarter & for local market in second half," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter in response to a tweet about the company's production trends in the important market.
With this context, investors should spend more time focusing on total vehicles made in China in a given month rather than where they are delivered. Local deliveries in a given month aren't exactly indicative of orders if Tesla bases exporting decisions on quarterly timing rather than order trends.
Meanwhile, with many growth stocks seeing gains on Thursday greater than the S&P 500's 0.12% increase as of this writing, this market trend could be helping Tesla shares as well.
Now what
For the full year, Tesla is aiming to grow its vehicle deliveries more than 50% year over year. The company's China factory, which accounted for more than 40% of Tesla's installed manufacturing capacity in Q2, is key to achieving this target.
