Tesla Smashes Unit Delivery Expectations For Q1, Full Year; Stock Spikes 14%

Despite missing consensus for earnings and revenue, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares rose over 14 percent after-hours on the back of better-than-expected delivery guidance and a Gigafactory update.

Tesla reported it expects first quarter unit deliveries to be about 16,000 cars, adding that it plans to deliver between 80,000 and 90,000 new Model S and Model X vehicles in 2016. That Q1 figure is above the reported Wall Street consensus of 15,200. No consensus information is available for full-year unit production.

Of note, any figure in Tesla's full-year range would be above forecasts from Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, detailed in a note earlier this month. Jonas said his team is forecasting 15,000 Model X and 56,000 Model S deliveries -- 71,000 total.

The upper end of that range indicates a 26 percent upside to what one of the Street's biggest Tesla bulls was previously expecting.

Tesla's release also showed it began production at its Gigafactory in the fourth quarter, mentioning that Powerwall and Powerpack production is "operating smoothly and expanding."

The company reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $(0.87) and Q4 sales of $1.75 billion, missing estimates of $1.79 billion.

Tesla stock has breached the $160 level, up double-digits after hours.