
Tesla Motors (TSLA) Fails to Meet Q2 Delivery Expectations
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Tesla Motors (TSLA) - Get Report are down 3.26% to $209.55 in early morning trading. Tesla released its Q2 delivery numbers over the weekend, and they were less than expected. Deliveries for Q2 were 14,370, which fell short of analysts' estimates of 17,175.
CNBC's Phil LeBeau spoke about what the estimates mean moving forward on "Squawk Box" this morning. "Folks, they have to deliver 50,000 in the second half of this year. They expect to deliver between 80,000 and 90,000 vehicles this year."
Tesla says they will effectively deliver on their estimates as they expect 2,200 vehicles per week in Q3, and another 2,400 vehicles per week in Q4. Tesla is expecting a back loaded year-end to make up for the poor performance up to this point, but skepticism remains as the second quarter estimates failed to meet expectations, LeBeau added.
Further cause for concern for the electric car company is the Model S crash which resulted in a fatality in Florida last week. " [It's] giving rise to an increase in the questioning of their auto-pilot technology, leaving investors to ponder if this will just prove to be a bigger headache than a success," LeBeau said.
"Too early to say. When you look at everything, what is likely to happen when they look at all the data in NHSTA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), they will say, we are going to have to have some parameters put in making sure people use this technology in certain instances." LeBeau noted, adding that further regulations could be put in place to make this feature safer for the consumer.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings rates Tesla as a Sell with a ratings score of D+. This is driven by some concerns, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover.
The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here:










