Rashid Abbasi | Reuters
Elon Musk, Chairman of SolarCity and CEO of Tesla Motors, speaks at SolarCity’s Inside Energy Summit
Tesla shares leaped higher after chief executive Elon Musk said the electric car maker beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations, apologized for prior bad manners toward analysts and reiterated a promise for future profitability.
Tesla’s stock jumped roughly 9.5 percent in premarket trading Thursday.
Oppenheimer, which upgraded Tesla shares to outperform following the earnings report, told clients the company may finally be on track with Model 3 production.
“With higher volumes and slower spending, we believe Tesla has reached a critical inflection point in its development,” the Oppenheimer analysts wrote. “While we have been cautious on Model 3 ramp, we believe gross margin performance on Model 3 will carry the stock over the next 12 months or more.”
Even Goldman Sachs — which has consistently advised clients sell Tesla stock (and continued to do so Thursday) — conceded that the quarter was “solid” for the Palo Alto, California-based company.
“This was a positive quarter. Automotive gross margins, cash burn, and ending cash balance were better than expected. In addition, the company may have turned the corner on its historical operational mis-execution,” the Goldman note read. “We see the second quarter as a positive step for Tesla as a manufacturing organization, but a step that requires continued forward momentum in cost control, operating efficiency, and ultimately positive cash flow.”
Here’s a wrap of all the major analyst opinions: