Shares of Tesla Inc. surged over 9% on Tuesday following a surprising report of second-quarter deliveries that surpassed market expectations. This marked the company's first outperformance in four quarters, with the largest margin since Q4 2021, according to FactSet data.


Tesla's stock (TSLA) was set for its highest closing price since January 11, heading for a sixth consecutive gain – the longest winning streak since July 2023.


The company announced it had delivered 443,956 vehicles in the second quarter. Although this represented a 4.7% decrease from the previous year, it was still 1.8% above the FactSet consensus of 436,000 vehicles. Notably, these deliveries included 422,405 Model 3s and Model Ys.


Citi analyst Itay Michaeli described the results as "an encouraging outcome vs. expectations both on the demand and supply sides." Michaeli noted potential for improving sentiment towards Tesla shares and the broader EV market, which had faced negative sentiment over the past six months. 


Before the delivery data was released, Tesla's stock had fallen 1.7% in premarket trading due to concerns that deliveries would fall short of expectations. These worries were amplified by reports showing a 24% year-over-year decline in Tesla's EV sales in China for June and a 2.2% decrease from May.


Tesla also reported producing 410,831 EVs in the second quarter, a 14.3% drop from the previous year. Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro attributed Tesla's "solid beat" to its revamped Model 3, suggesting Wall Street had broadly lowered its expectations ahead of the release.


Tesla is scheduled to report its full second-quarter results on July 23, post-market close, followed by a call with analysts at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. The company has also planned a "Robotaxi day" for August 8. Baird analyst Ben Kallo noted investor curiosity about the event, including questions on service charges, vehicle uptime, and costs associated with paying drivers.


Tesla's stock has experienced significant gains over the past few months, rising 55.2% since its 15-month low of $142.05 on April 22. Over the past three months, Tesla shares have rallied 32.3%, compared to the S&P 500 index's 5% gain during the same period.