The company’s shares jumped 14% in New York, their biggest gain since March and the best start to a year since Tesla went public more than a decade ago.
Worldwide deliveries totaled 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, well ahead of the average analyst estimate of roughly 263,000 vehicles, and topping the company’s previous record of 241,300 in the prior quarter.
“This is a trophy-case quarter for Tesla as the company blew away even bull-case expectations,” Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in an email.
The record quarter underscores the “green tidal wave taking hold” for Tesla and Chief Executive Elon Musk, Ives said in a note to clients.