Tesla

Tesla Could Deliver a Q1 Record 170K Vehicles, Per RBC Capital Markets Forecast

Photo: @TheTeslaLife/Twitter

RBC Capital Markets has published a preview of Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Q1 2021 deliveries, according to which the company could deliver 170,000 units, an absolute record for Q1 of any year.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak, in his note to investors, gave Tesla's Q1 2021 deliveries forecast, which has historically been the weakest for the company. Based on checks and regionally reported data, the firm forecast a total of 170,000 units, which will correspond to an increase of + 92% y/y and a decrease of -6% q/q. This forecast is based on the lapping initial of Model Y and the continued ramp-up of Model 3 production in China.

"Based on checks/regionally reported data, we forecast a total of 1Q21 deliveries of 170k units, which would be +92% y/y (lapping initial Model Y qtr and still ramping China Model 3 production) and -6% q/q."

Under this model, RBC Capital Markets predicts 164,800 Model 3/Y deliveries and only 5,300 Model S/X deliveries, as production lines for these models are currently in the process of upgrading to produce refreshed versions. Thus, the firm thinks that Tesla is likely to produce 170,000 vehicles, of which ~ 96 are from Fremont and 74,000 from Shanghai.

"By model, we forecast 164.8k Model 3/Y and only 5.3k Model S/X deliveries (undergoing a changeover)."



Source: RBC Capital Markets

According to RBC Capital Markets, the consensus looks mostly reasonable. Their prediction is about ~1% below Visible Alpha consensus. The firm believes that more Model 3/Ys were built than expected (RBC + 2.6% higher), but much fewer Model S/Xs (RBC -54% lower).

At the moment, the firm believes that consensus is looking for ~831,000 deliveries in 2021, but there could be some downside risk, particularly to Q2 2021, given the semiconductor chip shortage.

 

© 2021, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.

_____________________________

We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Legal Disclaimer --

This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero shares of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.

About the Author

Eva Fox

Eva Fox

Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.

Follow me on X

Reading next

Tesla Accessories