NEW YORK (TheStreet) –– Tesla Motors has gone through some growing pains as of late as it works to get its production issues under control. However, investors in the Elon Musk-led company are hoping much of those problems are behind them and 2015 can be a smoother ride for the electric car company. Despite the production issues the company previously faced, Musk was quite confident that growth would be at least 50% per year for the foreseeable future, and 50,000 units was a very achievable goal in 2015. Must Read: Here's What It Looks Like Inside Tesla's Massive Factory When the company reported third-quarter results in November, production levels were cut by a tad, as Musk and his team noted "the complexity of launches related to dual motor and autopilot hardware." Tesla unveiled the dual motor version of the Model S at an event in Los Angeles in September. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla earned an adjusted 2 cents a share on $932 million in revenue in the third-quarter, as it delivered 7,785 Model S units during the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to lose an adjusted 1 cent a share on $889.28 million in revenue. Tesla said it expects to deliver approximately 33,000 vehicles in 2014, down from a prior outlook of approximately 35,000 Model S vehicles. As of the third-quarter, Tesla delivered 21,821 Model S units, which would leave approximately 11,000 deliveries for the fourth quarter, assuming Tesla meets its 33,000 delivery target. Emboldened by Musk's confidence, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson believes that 60,000 is an achievable outlook. "We believe 60,000 is possible in 2015," Erickson penned in the note. "Buy-side appears closer to 5,000 Model X deliveries, which leaves the company decent latitude to shift production in the event the Model X production is slower than our estimate of roughly 9,700." Erickson rates Tesla outperform with a $316 price target. Musk, CFO Deepak Ahuja and their team have constantly noted that demand is not an issue, that the company can't make enough cars to meet demand. Credit Suisse analyst Dan Galves, who rates shares outperform with a $325 price target, recently noted that the wait time for the Model S is now in the 2.5 to 3 month range, up from 4 to 6 weeks during certain parts of 2014. "Combined with recent production increases and weakening of China orders, we believe this is evidence of a substantial uptick in order flow for NA and Europe," Galves wrote in a Jan. 27 note. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the company to earn an adjusted 31 cents a share on $1.23 billion in revenue when it reports on Wednesday. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla also said that it expects to earn an adjusted 30 to 35 cents a share in the fourth quarter, with diluted shares expected to be between 143 million and 145 million. Must Read: Tesla's Model X: Everything We Know Aside from the production issues, investors will be clamoring to hear updates on both the Model X, due out in the latter part of this year, as well as the Model 3, Tesla's third-generation, mass market vehicle. Pacific Crest's Erickson believes that any update on the upcoming SUV, the Model X, would be seen as "a positive relative to sentiment," given that expectations right now are conservative. On the Nov. 5 third quarter earnings call, CEO Musk said that any one ordering the SUV then would have to wait until 2016, since it's sold out for 2015. "So it's hard to say what those numbers would be, except I'm confident that the demand for the X will be very high once we're in production, and again we will be production-limited because it is really a phenomenal car," Musk stated. The Model X is slated to start deliveries in the third-quarter, with volume ramping up in the fourth quarter. Much of Tesla's valuation is built on the fact the company can deliver a mass-market electric vehicle (named the Model 3), which Musk has stated previously would cost around $35,000 to $40,000. Recently, General Motors unveiled its Chevy Bolt and said it would come around the end of 2016 into 2017, which places the heat on Tesla to deliver the Model 3 soon. "Tesla's planned venture into the mass market will be met by stiff competition from incumbent OEMs throughout the world (including Detroit), with comparable or more advanced technology and the balance sheets and scale to price aggressively," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst John Lovallo wrote in a research note. He highlighted cars such as the aforementioned Bolt, as well as an updated Nissan Leaf with a 200 mile range and competition from China as other entrants into the market. Must Read: Tesla's Decline Isn't Related to Oil -- So Is It a Buy? --Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York >If you want to send Chris an email, contact him here. Follow @Chris_Ciaccia // 0;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); // ]]>
Click to view a price quote on TSLA. Click to research the Automotive industry.
from Latest TSC Headlines http://ift.tt/1EWexTq
No comments:
Post a Comment