What happened
Shares of fast-growing automotive company Tesla (TSLA 12.06%) jumped in Monday afternoon trading, up 4.5% as of 1 p.m. ET despite missing on earnings over the weekend.
On Saturday, Tesla revealed that it produced over 305,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022 and delivered over 310,000 vehicles.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
At first glance, that seems pretty good. Those 310,000 deliveries are 68% more electric cars than Tesla delivered in Q1 2021, after all. That's a good number to hit, given that Tesla wants to grow sales by 50% on average, versus 2021, across the whole of 2022. The quick start to the year will make it easier for the company to hit targets later in the year.
Also notable is that Tesla grew deliveries of its more profitable Model X SUVs and Model S luxury sedans by 25% year over year -- which should improve Tesla's chances of hitting its earnings targets.
The number was, however, basically flat against deliveries of 309,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021 -- less than 1% sequential growth. It also fell short of the consensus prediction of Tesla analysts, who had forecast Tesla would be able to deliver 317,000 vehicles this Q1.
Now what
Investors cheering Tesla's performance also need to be aware that Tesla last week extended the temporary coronavirus-related suspension of operations at its Shanghai Gigafactory. Last we heard, production was scheduled to resume today -- but there's been no confirmation that production has in fact resumed.
Although it's true Tesla has opened another Gigafactory (in Germany) to help boost global output of its electric cars, production there still needs time to ramp up. It's going to take several days of new production at the Berlin Gigafactory to make up for each production day lost in Shanghai.
After missing on deliveries in Q1, Tesla needs to catch a lucky break with COVID-19 -- or it may end up missing again in the second quarter.
