Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock surged 12% in intraday trading Wednesday, marking its most significant one-day gain in 2024. This uptick came after the EV giant announced plans to launch more affordable vehicles, potentially by year-end, easing concerns over disappointing earnings and growth prospects.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has announced plans to expedite the launch of more affordable vehicles, countering earlier reports suggesting the company would abandon these initiatives.
In its first quarter shareholder release, Tesla revealed a significant update to its future vehicle line-up. The company said,
“We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025.”
During the company’s earnings call, CEO Elon Musk hinted at the possibility of new vehicles hitting the roads as early as 2025, if not by the end of this year. While Tesla refrained from revealing a specific debut date for the affordable EV, Musk confirmed that more details would be shared on August 8, coinciding with the unveiling of the robotaxi.
Tesla said in the release,
“These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.”
Tesla has been the center of investor attention despite a reported miss in revenue and earnings. The stock has seen a 34% decline this year, yet the update on its current prospects has sparked investor optimism.
Tesla Q1 Earnings Snapshot
For the first quarter, Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.45, falling short of the estimated $0.52, on revenue of $21.30 billion, missing forecasts for $22.3 billion. This marked a 9% decline in revenue compared to the previous year, representing Tesla’s first revenue drop in four years.
Tesla posted an operating profit of $1.2 billion for the quarter alongside an adjusted net income of $1.5 billion. Both these figures fell short of forecasts and were more than 50% lower than the previous year. On the delivery front, the company forecasts “notably lower volume,” a sentiment that echoes its Q4 earnings report.
Tesla delivered 386,810 vehicles globally in the first quarter, below estimates of 449,080, while producing 433,371 vehicles also falling short of estimates. Tesla did note in its Q1 report that Cybertruck production reached 1000 units/week in April.
A discrepancy of approximately 46,500 between the number of vehicles produced and sold raised concerns about global demand for Tesla vehicles, leading to successive rounds of price cuts. On Monday, Tesla announced the price cuts in the US and China, contributing to weakness in the stock price during trading hours.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Stock Reaction
At the time of this report, the price of TSLA stock stands at $162.13, indicating a 12.06% increase from the previous trading session. This week, it has seen a 4.30% increase in value. Trading activity has observed 181,178,016 (181.17 million) shares changing hands, significantly higher than the average daily volume of 102.19 million.
