NEW YORK--Tesla Inc beat Wall Street estimates for annual vehicle deliveries and met the low-end of its own target, sending shares to a record high in a vindication for Chief Executive Elon Musk after a few turbulent years.
Boosted by demand for its mass-produced Model 3 sedans as overseas sales pick up, Tesla on Friday said it delivered 112,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, including 92,550 Model 3s and 19,450 Model S/X SUVs, which was above expectations of 104,960 vehicles, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The Silicon Valley carmaker delivered approximately 367,500 vehicles during all of 2019, just meeting the low end of its target to deliver 360,000 to 400,000 vehicles in 2019. Tesla shares were up as much as 5.5% at $454, touching a record high.
The stock has had a strong run in recent months after posting a rare profit in the latest quarter and news of China ramp up. With a market valuation of more than $80 billion, Tesla is far outstripping those of traditional carmakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co.
The delivery results defy skeptics of Musk, whose mercurial behaviour over the last two years came under close scrutiny from federal regulators and shareholders of Tesla. Musk, who has more than 30 million Twitter followers, has a history of firing off tweets that resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a defamation trial against him.
The Tesla CEO settled the SEC complaint for $20 million in 2018 and a Los Angeles jury cleared Musk in the defamation case in December. "Elon has Tesla executing right on track," said Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin.
