Declining deliveries, especially as an electric vehicle stock like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) might faze some investors. Tesla investors, however, are doing reasonably well in Thursday afternoon’s trading, as Tesla shares are up fractionally. And this is despite word out of China that deliveries are actually down somewhat.
The word out of the China Passenger Car Association delivered bad news for Tesla: it sold 64,285 Chinese-made vehicles in July. That’s not so bad on its face, and by some comparisons it’s downright brilliant. A year ago at this time, the Shanghai Gigafactory couldn’t even deliver half that number. However, just a month prior, it delivered 31% more. This is actually the lowest performance that Tesla has seen so far this year. Such sour performance also comes at a time when Chinese delivery numbers are closely scrutinized for ongoing support from Beijing.
However, Beijing may not be a factor in the near-term, and Tesla’s delivery numbers may be about to get much, much worse. Record flooding, following a rainfall level not seen in 140 years, just hit Beijing. Nearly 30 inches of rain fell thanks to the last bits of Typhoon Doksuri, and that’s likely to hamper not only production, but also sales. However, Tesla likely has an advantage in one other way: India. Right now, Tesla is leading the pack in New Delhi as government agencies are closely monitoring Chinese entrants.
Analysts, however, remain somewhat skeptical. With 10 Buy ratings, 13 Hold and four Sell, analyst consensus calls Tesla stock a Hold. Further, with an average price target of $263.33, Tesla stock can only offer investors a 2.81% upside potential.
