On Sunday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an email to all employees at the electric vehicle maker saying the company would have to “rally hard” to hit “record deliveries” for the quarter.
Musk, and sometimes other Tesla execs, typically send “everybody” emails in the final week of the quarter, many of which leak to the press. Doing this helps encourage employees, internally, and manage investor expectations externally, as Tesla approaches its deadline for vehicle production and deliveries. Like other automakers, Tesla reports these numbers on a quarterly basis ahead of earnings.
The Numbers
Electrek previously reported on the email.
Tesla delivered 112,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2019, its best on record, and 88,400 in the first quarter of 2020. In the second quarter of 2020, Tesla said it delivered 90,650 vehicles, which beat analysts’ expectations given the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on production and demand.
According to a survey of analysts by FactSet, Wall Street expects Tesla to report vehicle deliveries of 144,000 for the quarter. The estimates range from 123,000 to 190,000.
Earlier this year, the company offered guidance that it would deliver 500,000 electric vehicles in 2020, and it has not changed that number. However, in its filings, Tesla has revised its tone, and stopped saying it would “comfortably exceed” 500,000 deliveries in 2020.
Tesla will hold its annual shareholder meeting and a “battery day” presentation on Tuesday, where it is expected to reveal new details about its battery and manufacturing technology.
Bank of America research analyst John Murphy who raised his price target for shares of Tesla to $550 earlier this month, wrote in a note ahead of the shareholder meeting:
“Overall, we expect news flow with the event will be positive, but given there is so much hype behind the company, it is unlikely to drive a material move in the stock in either direction, in our view.”
Tesla shares closed up 1.6% on Monday as the overall market fell. The stock was down more than 3% in after-hours trading.
The Email
From: Elon Musk
To: Everybody
Date: September 20, 2020 [time: redacted]
Subj. All Hands On Deck!
We have a shot at a record quarter for vehicle deliveries, but will have to rally hard to achieve it. This is the most [sic] number of vehicles per day that we’ve ever had to deliver.
Please consider vehicle deliveries to be absolute top priority. It’s also extremely important that we keep factory output as high as possible over the remaining 10 days. This is vital for the California market.
Thanks for your most excellent efforts,
Elon
Synopsis
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an email to all employees saying they would have to “rally hard” to hit “record deliveries” in the third quarter of 2020.
The company issued guidance earlier in the year saying it would deliver 500,000 electric vehicles in 2020.
In the second quarter, Tesla reported more than 90,000 vehicle deliveries.
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