On Friday, Tesla Motors updated a delivery report it released earlier that week, adding back a statistic for “in-transit” vehicles that was missing from the Monday document.
The move helped the automaker’s stock rise 1.4% on Friday, with further gains in after-hours trading.
The initial report showed Tesla’s second-quarter deliveries falling short of projections because of constrained battery supplies. The company’s stock, which had been hovering around $360, subsequently took a beating, with losses as high as 20% in its worst week since 2016.
According to CNBC, the core shortfall in deliveries was worsened in investors’ eyes by the omission of the in-transit stat, which had been a regular part in Tesla’s delivery reports.
The Friday addition of those figures didn’t completely address investors’ concerns. The in-transit numbers were comparatively low, which may explain why they were initially omitted. Tesla had only 3,500 vehicles in transit at the end of the second quarter, compared to 4,650 for the first quarter, and 6,450 for the fourth quarter of last year. The company told CNBC that the number indicates improved logistics and quicker deliveries during good summer weather, rather than lower future deliveries.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter.
Whatever the case, Tesla’s tough week coincided with its formal announcement of the start of production for its Model 3, a mass-market vehicle that is broadly seen as crucial to the future of the company. (Indeed, CEO Elon Musk himself as said as much.) The automaker’s ability to produce the Model 3 in high volumes, which some have questioned, will be crucial to Tesla’s growth and eventual profitability. Though Tesla arrived to the Coins2Day 500 for the first time this year, profit remains elusive.
Tesla stock is still up more than 44%, to around $313, since the beginning of the year.