Tesla's stock clawed back some losses on Thursday and was up more than 3 percent in pre-market trade on Friday, after a leaked email reportedly sent by Elon Musk to Tesla employees suggested that the electric vehicle (EV) maker has a good chance of making Q2 the highest deliveries and sales quarter in its history.
On Thursday, an email believed to be sent to all Tesla employees by Musk on May 22 appeared on message boards, and breathed some life into Tesla's shares that had been battered for several consecutive days after a growing number of investment banks and analysts outlined 'bear-case' scenarios for the EV maker. The bear camp is growing, with analysts expressing doubts about demand for Tesla's Model 3 and increased risks of Tesla underperforming on the Chinese market after the collapse of the U.S.-China trade talks.
Musk's 'leaked' email came in just the right time for the stock.
The email reads:
"As of yesterday we had over 50,000 net new orders for this quarter. Based on current trends, we have a good chance of exceeding the record 90,700 deliveries of Q4 last year and making this the highest deliveries/sales quarter in Tesla history!"
However, the email believed to be sent by Musk also says that Tesla needs sustained production of 1,000 Model 3s every day in order to beat the previous record, while its production rate has averaged 900 Model 3s this week, "so we're only about 10% away from 7,000/week."
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Over the past few days, a number of analysts have expressed doubts about Tesla's ability to deliver on sales and financial performance and not burn all the cash it has. Wedbush Securities warned that Tesla faces a "Kilimanjaro-like uphill climb" and a "Herculean task" in achieving its targets.
Morgan Stanley slashed its 'worst-case' Tesla share price target to just US$10 from US$97 in case the U.S.-China trade war hits the EV maker and dampens significantly demand for its cars on the Chinese market. Citigroup also has a shocking 'full bear' scenario for Tesla, seeing a 40-percent chance of Tesla's stock plunging to $36, up from a 35-percent chance previously.
Tesla's shares hit on Monday the lowest since December 2016 at US$205, and closed at $195.49 on Thursday.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More