Tesla shares gain the most in 1 1/2 weeks on Thursday, deliveries of China-made Model 3s to public to begin on January 7th

According to a Thursday report by Reuters, citing a Tesla Inc representative, the electric car maker intends to deliver its first China-produced Model 3 vehicles to the public on January 7th at an event at its facility in Shanghai.

Tesla shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Thursday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since December 23rd. The stock went up 2.85% ($11.93) to $430.26, after touching an intraday high at $430.68, or a price level not seen since December 27th ($435.31).

Shares of Tesla Inc have risen 2.85% so far in 2020 compared with a 1.59% gain for the benchmark index, Nasdaq 100 (NDX).

In 2019, Tesla’s stock went up 25.70%, thus, it underperformed the Nasdaq 100, which registered a 37.96% gain.

15 Tesla employees, who had bought a Model 3, were the first clients to get the sedans delivered on December 30th. Vehicle deliveries to customers began only 357 days after the Shanghai facility’s construction was initiated.

Tesla has priced its China-produced vehicles at CNY 355 800 ($50 000) before subsidies, while it seeks to begin delivering prior to Chinese New Year that starts on January 25th.

According to Wang Hao, Tesla’s China General Manager, the company intends to ramp up Model 3 deliveries this month. Executives from the company had already said that the Shanghai factory had achieved a production target of 1 000 vehicles per week, while sales of the China-produced Model 3 had so far been ”very good”.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 29 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Tesla Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $300.00, with a high estimate of $734.00 and a low estimate of $200.00. The median estimate represents a 30.27% downside compared to the closing price of $430.26 on January 2nd.

The same media also reported that at least 10 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated Tesla Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while other 10 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 9 analysts had recommended selling the stock.