Tesla soars 10% after smashing estimates to deliver 308,600 vehicles in the 4th quarter

• Tesla soared 10% on Monday after it reported Q4 vehicle deliveries that crushed expectations.
• The company delivered 308,600 vehicles, beating analyst estimates of about 266,000.
• "These delivery numbers were 'jaw dropping' and speaks to an EV demand trajectory that looks robust for Tesla," Wedbush said.
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Tesla stock soared as much as 10% on Monday after the electric vehicle manufacturer reported fourth-quarter deliveries that sailed past analyst expectations.

The company delivered 308,600 vehicles and produced 305,840 vehicles. Wall Street analysts had been expecting Tesla to deliver 266,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter. The bulk of the deliveries were for Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, with its Model S and Model X deliveries totaling just 11,750.

For all of 2021, Tesla delivered just under 1 million vehicles at 936,172, representing an 87% spike from its 2020 delivery figures. "Great work by Tesla team worldwide!" Musk tweeted in response to the Q4 delivery results.

"These delivery numbers were 'jaw dropping' and speaks to an EV demand trajectory that looks robust for Tesla heading into 2022," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a Sunday note. He estimates that Tesla delivered 200,000 vehicles in the month of December alone, speaking to the hockey stick-like growth for the company and electric vehicles in general.

Ives expects Tesla's China business to drive significant growth going forward, and credits the company's ability to successfully navigate chip shortages over the past year. "These numbers are hard to poke holes in and will be a major feather in the cap for the bulls on Monday morning and should improve broader sentiment on the EV space as a whole."

Tesla stock's surge on Monday brought it back to levels last seen in late-November. Ives sees the run continuing, with the analyst assigning an Outperform rating and $1,400 price target for the company. In a bull case scenario, he assigned Tesla a year-end 2022 price target of $1,800, representing potential upside of 60% from current levels.