Fremont Parking Lot Is Getting Empty: Beware of Tesla Q2

Before I talk about 2020's 2nd quarter let me first briefly mention Tesla's Q1 production and delivery numbers. Yesterday Tesla reported these numbers about it's 2020 Q1 production and deliveries.

Yesterday Tesla reported Tesla Q1 production numbers.

• Model 3 and Y total 87,282 units.
• Model S and X total 15,390 units.
• Total: 102,672 units.

Tesla Q1 Delivery Numbers

• Model 3 and Y total 76,200 units.
• Model S and X total 12,200 units.
• Total: 88,400 units.

Now let's talk about the 2nd quarter. It doesn't look good for anyone. Two weeks ago on March 19 Tesla announced that it's suspending the production at its Freemont CA factory. A day or two after that, Tesla announced that it's also suspending the production of its New York Gigafactory. This is going to have an effect on Tesla. We don't know how much these factories will be closed. The numbers that you see reported yesterday are mostly from the time when Tesla was operating at full speed. Now the main factories are shut down except Giga Shanghai.

I am as much of a fan of Tesla as anybody. While I don't have any stocks, you know that I have been reporting Tesla news at Torque News channel daily, and several times a day. But come on, the Fremont factory parking lot is empty this week and even the delivery staging lot is depleted and nearly empty. It’s pretty much dead there, say the locals. And many Tesla or car buyers are nervous about their jobs. They may start holding off on big purchases.

I am not saying Tesla isn’t going to be amazing when we come out of this. As Ark Invest said, big disruptions like this are where innovative companies come out ahead. But this happens not now and not even in the next two months, rather eventually. Just please don’t expect a great second quarter because conditions are not set up that way right now. Sure China will help and the Giga Shanghai is adding capacity, but the Chinese economy is taking a hit too. And Giga Berlin is still being built. Therefore, I would say that the 2nd quarter needs some special allowances for possibly looking really, really bad.

I noticed on Reddit Tesla discussion some people write that they see 900 dollars Tesla stock price in sight. I don't think so and I disagree. How can that happen when two major factories are shut down for an indefinite time?

$900 won't be anywhere in sight until we get a good idea of how Q2 is going to go. The majority of Q1 went mostly unaffected by the current situation. But the Quarter 2 is right now being largely influenced by the current uncertain economic and social situations.

Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.