Just hours after Tesla announced its more affordable lease plans for potential buyers and CEO Elon Musk confirmed domestic Model S sales had hit record levels, Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) rallied by more than 7 percent in mid-morning trading today.
Though Tesla stock is now at $236.98 per share, the company’s share prices broke the $237 mark as of midday, good for an increase of over $15. At the close of yesterday’s trading, TSLA stock was at $221.67, and had actually declined following a report that Tesla’s domestic sales were not as bullish as forecasted. But with these two new announcements, Tesla stock has gone back up, as the carmaker pushes forward in what has been a very volatile calendar year at Wall Street; the company’s stock reached a low of $180 in May 2014.
The first factor that pushed Tesla stock to its rally was the carmaker’s website post, stating that it had struck up a deal with U.S. Bank to offer the Model S on lease at lower rates. Leasing prices used to range between $800 to $1,300 for the $71,00-and-up Model S, but Tesla claims the deal with U.S. bank could reduce prices by about 25 percent. Further, drivers would also be able to cancel their lease within three months, should they not be satisfied with their vehicle.
Tesla’s other big announcement was a tweet from Musk, saying that Model S sales were up 65 percent in the North American market, and had reached “record high” levels globally. This came soon after Barclays said that Tesla may not be able to reach its goal of 13,000 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2014, and may subsequently fail to reach its annual goal of 35,000 deliveries for the current calendar year. But with the lease discounts taken into account, Barclays now believes the lower lease prices could help Tesla avoid Model S sales plateauing.