Tesla sales smash estimates in second quarter

(Sharecast News) - Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles over the April-June period, with sales rising by nearly a quarter after two years of annual sales declines. The electric car giant posted total deliveries of 480,126 over the three-month period, a 24.9% jump over last year and a record for a second quarter.

According to Visible Alpha consensus, the market was looking for a sales figure just shy of 403,000.

In a brief update to investors, Tesla also sold 13.5 GWh of energy storage products, marking a 40.6% surge over the year.

The strong second-quarter growth marks a significant acceleration from the 6.3% increase registered in the first quarter, which marks the second-lowest rate of quarterly sales growth in four years.

Sales were helped by government incentives to boost EV sales in Europe, helped by a pickup in the momentum of corporate fleets turning electric. The recent energy price spike is also thought to have driven demand for EVs.

Despite the second-quarter beat, shares in Tesla dropped sharply on Thursday, falling around 6% to $399.99 after jumping by over 15% over the past five days alone.