Tesla shares soared in premarket trading Thursday after the automaker said it delivered about 90,650 vehicles in the second quarter.
Analysts expected Tesla to deliver about 72,000 vehicles during the last three months, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Shares of Tesla zoomed nearly 9 percent to $1,219.02 in Thursday’s premarket, a day after closing 3.7% higher to $1,119.63.
Tesla’s deliveries fell by just 4.8% from the same quarter last year even as auto sales the world over, and especially in the U.S., slumped during the quarter after Covid-19 outbreaks led to health restrictions on households, travel and businesses, mass layoffs and wage cuts.
General Motors, Toyota Motor, Fiat Chrysler and Ford all saw their second-quarter sales plunge by more than 30% as the coronavirus caused consumers to stay at home and dealerships and factories to shutter.
Tesla reported combined deliveries of 80,050 Model 3 sedans and Model Y cross-over SUVs, and combined deliveries of 10,600 of the older and more expensive Model S and X vehicles.
The delivery data comes a day after Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out an e-mail congratulating his tens of thousands of employees on their “amazing” execution “in such difficult times.”
In the first quarter of 2020, Tesla said it made more vehicles than it sold with 102,672 units produced, and 88,400 delivered.
During the second quarter of 2019, Tesla said it made 87,048 vehicles including 72,531 Model 3s, and delivered 95,200, including 77,550 Model 3s.
During the second quarter, Tesla had to close its main U.S. car plant in Fremont, California, for several weeks due to orders from local health officials enforcing coronavirus shutdowns.