Tesla (TSLA) ‘likely to clear a rising bar’ for Q3 deliveries, Credit Suisse says

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has lofty expectations for its third-quarter delivery numbers, but Credit Suisse analysts Dan Levy and AJ Denham are convinced that the electric automaker is “likely enough to clear a rising bar.”

Levy and Denham also raised their “Blue Sky Scenario” price target to $630.

In a note to investors, Levy and Denham write that they expect Tesla’s Q3 2020 deliveries to be around 140,000 cars. They believe that this is “enough to clear likely buy-side consensus ~ 135-140k. While our expectation would require a record month for Tesla in September (~65k units), we believe this is feasible given Tesla’s typical quarter-end wave.”

* While the bar has risen on the 3Q delivery release, we believe Tesla may have just enough to clear it | Credit Suisse

Blue Sky PT $630$TSLA pic.twitter.com/a82lORbJlv

— David Tayar (@davidtayar5) October 1, 2020

Tesla stereotypically turns up the heat and increases production and deliveries during the final two weeks of a quarter. In the past, the last two weeks have proven to be a boost to the company’s delivery figures as Tesla requires an “all hands on deck” approach to finish out the quarter strong.

“While the bar has risen on the 3Q delivery release, we believe Tesla may have just enough to clear it,” the analysts said.

140,000 Q3 deliveries would be Tesla’s largest quarterly display yet. “We assume June/July combined deliveries of ~75k; for context, this is the highest first two months of a quarter for Tesla, ahead fo the prior high of ~50k in Oct/Nov 2019, and all ahead of Oct/Nov 2019 of ~47k.” This number is astronomical, but the analysts believe it is doable because of U.S. demand and a quickly growing Chinese sector.

“While aggressive, we believe this is feasible given Tesla’s typical quarter-end wave.”

Earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk emailed Tesla employees, stating that there is the potential for “record deliveries” this quarter. The previous record was 112,000 in Q4 2019. Levy and Denham indicate that the bar has shifted after this email was sent and that a larger number of deliveries should be expected for Q3.

Finally, Levy and Denham believe that the post-Battery Day decline has been wiped away and that even a miss at the estimated delivery figure would still keep the stock higher than most price targets. “We’d expect the stock to remain elevated (even if temporarily trading off), as investors would ultimately look past the miss, focusing on Tesla’s robust growth narrative.”

A robust Q3 showing could open the doors for Tesla to achieve its yearly delivery target of 500,000 vehicles. Tesla would need a 160,000 Q3 delivery figure to slice the target in half, but around 140,000 would undoubtedly contribute to the cause.

Tesla will announce quarterly delivery figures within the next few days, and its Q3 2020 Earnings Call will be toward the end of the month, as usual.

Disclaimer: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.

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