Tesla TSLA recently announced its decision to cease taking new orders for its flagship Model S and Model X for markets outside North America.
The electric vehicle (EV) giant recently sent out emails to customers waiting for their Model S and Model X vehicle orders in Europe, stating that it is not accepting any new orders from customers outside North America for the time being in order to accelerate the delivery of existing orders.
This decision has been triggered in response to Tesla’s massive backlog of orders in Europe and other international markets, where no new Model X and Model S shipments have been made in the past year.
Per the email, the EV behemoth plans to deliver the first Model S and Model X in Europe during the second half of next year.
Tesla had paused production of Model S and Model X earlier this year to update the vehicles and ramp up its manufacturing facilities. Nonetheless, the automaker kept taking new orders but production was deferred with refreshed Model S coming out of the assembly line in June and Model X in October.
Despite the global chip shortage, Tesla hit an incredible milestone in the third quarter of 2021, with record deliveries and production. Production and delivery totaled 237,823 and 241,391 vehicles, reflecting a year-over-year jump of 64% and 73%, respectively. The stellar production and delivery count was achieved, thanks to the increasing popularity of green vehicles, preference for personal mobility, easier credit conditions, and economic recovery buoyed by the accelerated vaccination drive as well as the massive fiscal stimulus.
The Model 3/Y registered production and deliveries of 228,882 and 232,102 vehicles, marking year-over-year growth of 79% and 87%, respectively. Meanwhile, the production and delivery of the Model S/X plunged 47% and 39% on a year-over-year basis to 8,941 and 9,289 units, respectively.
Along with high automotive revenues, Tesla’s energy generation and storage revenues boost earnings prospects. Both solar and energy storage deployments saw massive year-over-year growth in the last reported quarter and are likely to maintain momentum on the back of the positive reception of Megapack and Powerwall products.
This November, Tesla indicated plans to invest approximately 1.2 billion yuan ($188 million) in ramping up production at its Shanghai Gigafactory in China. The expansion plan comes in as the factory is nearing the exhaustion of its current capacity.
In December, the auto biggie is also set to begin production at its Berlin Gigafactory in Germany. Tesla estimates as many as 30,000 vehicles to be manufactured there in the first half of 2022. Serial production will start in January, with the production rate gradually rising from 1,000 cars per week in January.
Tesla currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Key Auto Companies to Tap
Other top-ranked stocks in the auto space include Goodyear Tire GT, LCI Industries LCII and Harley-Davidson (HOG), all of which flaunt a Zacks Rank of 1.
Goodyear has an expected earnings growth rate of 196.86% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 80 cents over the last 60 days.
Goodyear beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the last four quarters. GT has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 228.45%, on average. Its shares have rallied 109.6% over the past year.
LCI Industries has an expected earnings growth rate of 67.95% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 45 cents over the last 60 days.
LCI Industries beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missing once. LCII has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.09%, on average. Its shares have rallied 24.8% over the past year.
Harley-Davidson has an expected earnings growth rate of 34.92% for the current quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 32 cents over the last 60 days.
Harley-Davidson beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missing once. HOG has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 138.45%, on average. Its shares have risen 1.5% over the past year.
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