Tesla shares wipe out loss for the year with 27% rally this week

Tesla’s
stock
price
rose
enough
on
Friday
to
wipe
out
its
loss
for
the
year
and
bring
its
gain
for
the
week
to
27%.

Shares
of
the
electric
vehicle
maker
closed
Friday
at
$251.55.
They
ended
last
year
at
$248.48,
and
proceeded
to
fall
as
low
as
$138.80
in
April.

The
latest
rally
was
sparked
by
a
better-than-expected

deliveries
report
for
the
second
quarter
on
Tuesday.
While
deliveries
still
dropped
4.8%
from
a
year
earlier,
the
falloff
was
less
steep
than
the
first-quarter
decline,
and
gave
investors
reasons
for
optimism
heading
into
the
second
half.

In
April,
Tesla
shares
hit
a
52-week
low
after
a
string
of
troubling
developments.
Sales
in
the
core
automotive
business

fell
in
the
first
quarter,
the
company

downsized
through
sweeping
layoffs
and
there
were

reports
that
Tesla
had
scrapped
plans
to
soon
produce
a
low-cost
family
car
at
its
Texas
factory.

Tesla
is
set
to
deliver
second-quarter
financial
results
after
the
bell
on
July
23.
Automotive
gross
margins
are
likely
to
be
in
focus.

Since
last
year,
Tesla
has
been
offering
extensive
discounts
and
incentives
to
attract
customers
to
its
aging
lineup
of
EVs,
including
its
popular
entry-level
Model
3
sedans,
Model
Y
crossover
utility
vehicles
and
its
more
expensive
flagship
Model
S
sedans
and
Model
X
SUVs.

In
late
2023,
Tesla
started
selling
its
angular
Cybertruck.
A
Tesla
Cybertruck
account
on
social
media
site
X
posted
on
Thursday
that
the
truck
had
become
the
bestselling
fully
electric
pickup
in
the
U.S.
in
the
second
quarter.

Ford
reported
sales
of
its
fully
electric
model,
the
F-150
Lightning,
totaling
7,902
in
the
second
quarter
and
15,645
through
June
of
this
year.

Tesla
did
not
respond
to
CNBC’s
request
for
more
information.

Beyond
the
upcoming
earnings
report,
Cantor
Fitzgerald
analysts
wrote
in
a
note
on
Tuesday
that
they
expect
a
marketing
event
—
Tesla’s
Robotaxi
Day
—
early
next
month
to
be
a
catalyst
for
the
stock.

“TSLA
has
previously
disclosed
plans
for
a
Robotaxi
(or
Cybercab),
which
the
company
plans
to
unveil
on
August
8,”
they
wrote.
“Although
we
don’t
expect
this
segment
to
launch
prior
to
2027,
we
do
expect
it
to
be
a
meaningful
business
segment
for
the
company
over
the
long
term.”

Still,
Cantor
Fitzgerald
expects
Tesla
to
deliver
fewer
cars
this
year
than
last.
The
firm
has
a
price
target
of
$230
on
Tesla
and
recommends
buying
the
stock.

While
Tesla
has
bounced
back,
it
is
lagging
behind
the
broader
market
for
the
year.
The
Nasdaq
is
up
22%
in
2024,
and
the
S&P
500
has
gained
17%.
Tesla
is
now
up
1.2%.

A recent
Axios
Harris
poll found
the
company
is
experiencing
brand
deterioration
that
is
at
least
partly
due
to
Musk’s
“antics”
and
“political
rants.”
A
New
York
Times
survey out
this
week also
said
Musk’s
“polarizing
statements”
and
“political
activity”
are
driving
away
some
“left-leaning
consumers.”

Tesla
is
also
still
years
delayed
in
delivering
software
that
can
turn
its
existing
vehicles
into
self-driving
cars.
Musk announced
on
Oct.
19,
2016,
that
all
Tesla
cars
being
produced
at
that
time
had
the
necessary
hardware
to
make
them
self-driving.
But
in

late
June,
he
said
another
hardware
and
sensor
setup
is
on
the
way
to
enable
that
capability.

WATCH:

Tesla
deliveries
are
being
‘overanalyzed’