Hyperdrive
Musk Seeking Tesla Deliveries Record Could Be a Double-Edged Sword
Wall Street worries the company could pass the 90,700 mark, but at the expense of earnings.
Tesla cars parked in front of a showroom and service center in Burlingame, California.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
To understand why investors have soured on Tesla Inc. this year, consider one of the thousands of deliveries that took place last week as the the electric-car maker was gunning for a record for the number of vehicles it handed over in a quarter.
John Hanna, who splays his fandom for Elon Musk’s companies on his Twitter profile, ordered a Model 3 Tuesday evening and drove it home the following afternoon. He paid about $69,000 for a Performance version of the sedan, and the Denver-area store he picked it up from was bustling with buyers.