Electric carmaker Tesla saw its shares surge on Tuesday after reporting auto deliveries that beat analyst estimates, while General Motors logged slower second-quarter US sales.
Tesla said it delivered around 444,000 vehicles worldwide in the April-June period, exceeding consensus estimates compiled by FactSet and sending its share price up around 9.0 percent.
But deliveries were still 4.7 percent down from a year ago.
Of the total figure, 422,405 involved Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Tesla gave no detailed breakdown of the other autos delivered.
During the same period it produced 410,831 vehicles, including 386,576 Model 3 and Model Y autos.
“This was a huge comeback performance from Tesla and (Elon) Musk with the Street expecting a clear miss this quarter with EV demand still choppy globally,” said Wedbush analysts in a note.
They expect “the worst is in the rear-view mirror for Tesla,” helped by a “mini rebound” in China along with price stabilization.
Tesla’s robotaxi, to be unveiled on August 8, should also launch a new chapter for the automaker, the analysts noted.
But Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds, cautioned that the decline in Tesla’s second quarter deliveries is not a big shock.
“We’ve seen the automaker exhaust its bag of tricks by lowering prices and increasing incentives to spur demand without much success in the US market,” she said.
She added that “times are tough for Tesla,” noting that its sales techniques could have “long-term negative consequences.”
In a separate statement, GM said Tuesday that it delivered 696,086 units in the United States, up 0.6 percent on-year.
But this was a markedly slower pace than last year’s 19 percent jump.
GM reported a 17 percent rise in retail EV registrations, above the industry’s 10 percent gain.
On the start-up front, Rivian said Tuesday it produced 9,612 vehicles and delivered 13,790 in the second quarter — levels in line with its forecasts.
The company saw a stock market boom after German automaker Volkswagen said in June that it was investing $5 billion — including $1 billion directly in Rivian — to create a joint venture specializing in automotive software.
Nikola, a start-up manufacturer of hydrogen-powered and electric trucks, said it sold 72 hydrogen-powered vehicles in the quarter, exceeding its target of 60.
