Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Tesla Motors Inc. beat its car-sales forecast for the second consecutive quarter with a 52 percent surge in the three months through June.

Tesla delivered 11,507 Model S sedans in the period, the Palo Alto, California-based manufacturer said Thursday in a statement of preliminary figures. The company predicted in May that it would sell 10,000 to 11,000 of the electric-powered car, its only model, during the second quarter.

That brings the preliminary total so far the first half to 21,552 deliveries, less than 40 percent of its full-year target of selling 55,000 vehicles. Output and deliveries are projected to increase with the introduction of the Model X sport utility vehicle this quarter.

In its three-paragraph statement, the company said the second-quarter figure may be adjusted slightly and reminded investors that quarterly financial results are also affected by cost of sales and other inputs.

Tesla shares rose 4.2 percent to $280.47 at 8:23 a.m. New York time, before regular trading. The stock gained 21 percent this year through Wednesday, outpacing the Russell 1000 Index’s 1.4 percent increase.

The automaker, whose biggest shareholder is Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, reworked its Model S lineup in April, replacing the cheapest version with an all-wheel-drive car costing 7.1 percent more at $75,000. Tesla also plans to begin selling a lower-priced third car in 2017.

Tesla’s first-quarter sales jumped 55 percent from a year earlier to 10,030 vehicles, exceeding the company’s forecast by 5.6 percent. The second-quarter total was a record for the carmaker, which was founded in 2003 and began deliveries of the Model S in 2012. Tesla is also developing large-scale energy- storage systems for homes and businesses.