RBC Capital upgraded Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) to outperform from sector perform, lowering their price target to $1,100 from $1,175 given a more favorable near-term set-up.
According to Visible Alpha consensus, Q2/22 delivery is expected to be 279,000 units, though the analysts think the buy-side expects approximately 250,000 print effectively in line with their new 249,000 forecast. With investors primed for lower deliveries, the analysts expect Q2 margins to surprise to the upside.
The analysts expect Q3 deliveries to be 396,000 (vs. Street’s 378,000) and H2/22 auto gross margins to be above 30% as Shanghai gets back to pace, Berlin and Texas ramp and pricing gains continue.
According to the analysts, the company has benefited from an oligopoly-like positioning, and now, with Auto entering the next phase with more competition, share loss will likely occur. However, the analysts are not overly concerned about this, stating the company has solid demand as evidenced by growing lead times for their vehicles. So the pricing gains should continue.