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Tesla (TSLA) Stock Gains 6.6% on Major Semitruck Update

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On Monday, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) provided a major update on its electric semitrucks project. The project, since its announcement in 2017, has experienced a series of delays. The EV behemoth confirmed that its flagship model, Tesla Semi, is on track for deliveries to customers by 2026, with a goal of producing 50,000 units of the all-electric Class 8 truck when the vehicle’s Nevada production facility is ramped.

Providing further details on range and payload capacity for the EV truck, Tesla currently lists the Semi’s 300-mile Standard Range version with a tare weight of less than 20,000 pounds, while its 500-mile Long Range variant was listed with a tare weight of less than 23,000 pounds.

The Tesla Semi is currently in the pilot testing stage with PepsiCo. On Monday, Tesla executive Dan Priestley said PepsiCo would be receiving an additional 50 trucks in its fleet for the pilot program. The company is currently testing approximately 35 trucks. This follows an excellent performance of the beverage giants’ 21 Tesla Semis that have been employed to date.

Tesla stock rose as much as 6.6% on Tuesday, buoyed by this optimism. The firm, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), has been having a rough year, with almost a quarter of its value reduced year to date. Cooling sales and rising competition from China have ensured that the company cut its prices, thereby bringing the stock price down. Production ramp-up of the updated Model 3 at its California factory is putting cost-side pressure. Houthi militia attacks on shippers in the Red Sea disrupting production at its German factory outside of Berlin have also been major issues.

However, since the end of March, the EV-maker has been able to arrest its slide a tad bit, rising 6.2% since. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Tesla is part of the Zacks Automotive – Domestic industry. Tesla’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is -20.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has gone down 23.1% over the past 60 days.

Competitors in the domestic EV segment, like Ford Motor Company (F - Free Report) and General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) have fared much better in the period. The stock price for Ford has risen 3.6% year to date, while General Motors has appreciated by more than a quarter of its value, rising 25.4%.

It remains to be seen whether this fresh boost in the semitrucks project turns things around for Tesla.


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