Chinese EV maker BYD (BYDDY) recently hit a major milestone after its 10-millionth new energy vehicle rolled off the line, which highlights the company’s rapid production growth. Indeed, while it took 15 years to reach its first 5 million, the next 5 million units were produced in just 15 months. In Q4 2024, BYD delivered 595,412 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which beat Tesla (TSLA) by over 20% to secure a higher quarterly total. Despite this, BYD’s 1.76 million BEVs for the full year fell slightly behind Tesla’s 1.79 million, although Tesla experienced its first-ever annual sales decline.
Stay Ahead of the Market:
- Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
- Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener
BYD’s strong Q4 performance reflects its appeal to middle and lower-income consumers with affordable EV options, while Tesla remains focused on the premium market. BYD also sold an impressive 918,556 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in 2024. In addition, industry experts note that BYD is on track to remain the world’s top BEV maker, with total deliveries of 4.27 million EVs (BEVs and PHEVs combined) last year – a 41.3% year-over-year increase.
Tesla’s Annual Sales Decline
Tesla’s Q4 figures came in at 495,570 BEVs, which fell below Bloomberg analysts’ estimates of 512,277. Although the company saw a modest year-over-year quarterly increase of 2.3%, its annual BEV sales dipped 1.1%.
Interestingly, it is worth noting that BYD’s dominance is mostly due to its sales in China, as only 7.8% of its sales come from outside the mainland. In contrast, Tesla benefits from global diversification, with 37% of its sales coming from China. However, increasing tariffs in North America and Europe could challenge Chinese EV exports as companies like BYD seek to expand internationally.
Is Tesla Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 14 Buys, 11 Holds, and nine Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 69% rally in its share price over the past year, the average Tesla price target of $311.89 per share implies 23.31% downside risk.
