Tesla’s China Sales Dropped. Tesla Stock Rose Anyway.

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Tesla

sales from its plant in Shanghai fell in February from January, following the pattern of other electric-vehicle makers. Results were still be good enough for the stock. Investors were ready for a small decline.

Tesla (ticker: TSLA) delivered 56,515 vehicles from its Chinese plant, according to reports. About 33,000 were exported into Europe and 23,000 were sold in China.

The results last month compare with 59,845 delivered in January. The export-domestic breakdown for that month was about 40,500 exported to Europe and 19,400 for local Chinese buyers.

Tesla typically exports more of its Shanghai production early in a quarter and sells more in China later in a quarter. That’s been the pattern for many months and the pattern repeated again in the first two months of 2022.

Tesla stock rose 2.5% Tuesday, closing at $824.40. The

S&P 500
and

Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell about 0.7% and 0.6%. The stock reaction shows that the Tesla numbers weren’t too far off what investors expected.

Results in February include the Lunar New Year holiday which affects both sales and production. Combined deliveries for

NIO

(NIO),

XPeng

(XPEV) and

Li Auto

(LI) in February came in a 20,770, down from 34,842 delivered in January.

Tesla’s February 2022 number increased more than 200% from the 18,318 sold out of the Shanghai plant in February 2021. The growth is impressive, but year over year comparisons aren’t that meaningful. Tesla has grown production in China rapidly. Deliveries from the Shanghai plant have averaged about 58,000 units, below the record 73,000 delivered in December.

Deliveries will have to pick up if Tesla is to hit Wall Street delivery estimates. Tesla is on pace to deliver roughly 700,000 vehicles in China, based on results from the first two months of the year. Analysts project Chinese deliveries for Tesla will come in between 800,000 and 900,000 vehicles.

Coming into Tuesday trading, Tesla stock was down about 24% year to date. Results haven’t been the biggest headwind. Market trading has. The

Nasdaq Composite Index
has dropped almost 18% year to date as rising interest rates, inflation and European war have all hit investor sentiment.

The Nasdaq closed down about 0.3% on Tuesday.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]