Elon Musk attends “Exploring New Horizons in Innovation: Mark Reed in Conversation with Elon Musk” on day three of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France on June 19, 2024.
Mark Piasecki | Getty Images
Tesla’s The stock rose on Friday, erasing its losses for the year and extending its gains for the week to 27%.
The electric car maker’s shares closed at $251.55 on Friday, down from $248.48 last year and as low as $138.80 in April.
The recent rally was triggered by a better-than-expected Q2 deliveries report on Tuesday. Deliveries still fell 4.8% from a year ago, but the decline was less severe than the Q1 drop, giving investors reason to be optimistic heading into the second half.
In April, Tesla’s stock hit a 52-week low after a series of shaky developments: Sales at its core auto business fell in the first quarter, the company downsized through widespread layoffs, and there were reports that Tesla was canceling plans to build an affordable family car at its Texas factory.
Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes on July 23, with auto sales gross margins likely to be the focus.
Since last year, Tesla has been offering a range of discounts and incentives to lure customers to its existing EV lineup, including the popular entry-level Model 3 sedan, the Model Y crossover utility vehicle, and the more expensive flagship Model S sedan and Model X SUV.
Tesla will begin selling its angular Cybertruck in late 2023. The Tesla Cybertruck account on social media site X posted Thursday that the truck was the best-selling all-electric pickup in the U.S. in the second quarter.
Ford reported selling 7,902 of its all-electric F-150 Lightning vehicles in the second quarter, bringing its total sales through June to 15,645.
Tesla did not respond to CNBC’s request for additional information.
In addition to the upcoming earnings report, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald wrote in a note Tuesday that they expect a marketing event called Tesla 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. “While we do not expect this segment to launch before 2027, we expect it to be a meaningful business segment for the company in the long term.”
Still, Cantor Fitzgerald expects Tesla to deliver fewer cars this year than last year. The firm has a $230 price target for Tesla and recommends buying the stock.
Tesla has bounced back, but it has lagged the broader market this year. The Nasdaq is up 22% in 2024, while the S&P 500 is up 17%. Tesla is currently up 1.2%.
A recent Axios Harris poll found that the company’s brand is suffering at least in part because of Musk’s “antics” and “political rants.” A New York Times poll released this week also found that Musk’s “polarizing rhetoric” and “political activism” are driving away some “left-leaning consumers.”
Tesla is still years behind in delivering the software that would turn existing cars into self-driving cars. Musk announced on October 19, 2016, that all Tesla cars currently in production have the hardware necessary to be self-driving. But in late June, he said that another hardware and sensor setup was in the works to make that feature possible.
see: Tesla Delivery Is Being ‘Over-Analyzed’
