Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
Tesla disclosed its first-quarter earnings results on Tuesday, falling short of expectations. Nonetheless, in premarket trading, the stock is surging by 12 percent to $162 per share as investors embraced the earlier-than-anticipated schedule for more cost-effective models.
Tesla teased its upcoming Robotaxi — which will be unveiled on August 8 — and its next-generation platform saying the “purpose-built Robotaxi product will continue to pursue a revolutionary ‘unboxed’ manufacturing strategy”.
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Citi analyst Itay Michaeli slightly increased the firm’s price target on Tesla to $182 from $180 while maintaining a neutral rating on the shares after “better-than-feared” results.
The analyst emphasized Tesla’s gross margin of 17.4 percent, slightly lower than last year’s 19.3 percent, but exceeding expectations. Citi added that Tesla’s upbeat outlook on this year’s deliveries, second quarter trends, and new product timing further strengthened confidence.
“The quarter won’t settle recent debates and consensus estimates still seem vulnerable,” but given the year to date stock decline of 42 percent the “favorable reaction makes sense.”
Earlier in the day, the automaker launched the new highly expected Performance variant of its Model 3 sedan with deliveries starting in May. The new version starts at $45,490 in the United States (after applying the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit).
In Europe, it starts at €55,490 being worthy to note that the model for Europe, Canada, and China has 460hp, 50 less than in the United States.
On Monday, Baidu announced that Tesla vehicles in China will integrate Baidu Maps V.20 in May which features a 3D lane-level navigation capability directly integrated into vehicles.
This collaboration extends to include partnerships with Huawei and electric vehicle startup JiYue, as revealed by Baidu Vice President Shang Guobin on Monday. This technology has already been implemented in the premium models of the Jiyue brand, where it’s featured as a top-tier offering.
Tesla has adjusted the pricing of its “Full Self-Driving” software in the US, reducing it from $12,000 to $8,000, and in Canada from CA$16,000 to $11,000. This price reduction follows a 50% cut in the subscription fee announced on April 12.
On Sunday, Tesla lowered the starting price of the Model 3, Y, S and X in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,930). Tesla’s revamped Model 3 starts now at 231,900 yuan ($32,000) in the country.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | X
