Tesla Shares Climb on Increased Delivery Forecast

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By Jacob Maslow

Tesla shares rose 13% in after-hours trading yesterday, despite the fact that the company still isn’t making a profit.

Shares rose on the news that Tesla had increased its delivery forecast, estimating that the firm will deliver at least 80,000 vehicles in 2016, with high-end estimates reaching 90,000.

Deliveries are something investors watch closely because it signals how many EV’s the company is producing and how quickly they are getting them to customers who have ordered them.

If Elon Musk is correct in his estimate, it will represent a 60-80% rise in sales as compared to 2015.

Musk also indicated that Tesla expects a significant uptick in sales of its model-X SUV, a vehicle which the company began producing and delivering in the last quarter of 2015.

Musk remains confident that Tesla will turn a profit in 2016, despite ending the previous year deeply in the red. Much of that debt, the tech visionary says, was invested into a new plant and Gigafactory, which is set to produce batteries for both homes and vehicles.

One element Musk may not be paying enough attention to, however, is the continued cheap price of oil.

Will dirt cheap energy prove an insurmountable obstacle to Musk’s hopes for a profitable Tesla in 2016? It won’t be long until we find out!

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