Tesla stock climbs into record territory on rebound in Chinese sales

• Car sales in China rose in May for the first time in nearly a year, the China Passenger Car Association said Monday — and Tesla's were the best-selling new energy vehicles.
• Shares of Tesla surged as much as 5.4% Monday, surpassing the company's February all-time high close.
• The gains put Tesla on track for another record-high close Monday.
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Shares of Tesla jumped, surpassing their all-time record high close, following data showing China sales snapped back in May.

Car sales in China jumped in May for the first time since June 2019, and Tesla's were the top-selling new energy vehicles with more than 11,000 units sold during the month, the China Passenger Car Association said Monday.

Shares of Tesla surged as much as 5.4% on Monday to $933.44 a share, surpassing the company's February all-time high close of $917.42.

Solid Tesla sales in China "is a linchpin to the bull thesis moving forward," Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, wrote in a Monday note.

In April, registrations of Tesla vehicles in China slumped to 4,633 from a record 12,710 a month before, when the company resumed production at its Shanghai Gigafactory following a mandatory coronavirus-related shutdown. The Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company has lowered prices in China twice in the last two months, Bloomberg reported.

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"Strong Model 3 demand out of China remains a ray of light for Tesla in a dark global macro and appears to be on a run rate to hit 100k unit deliveries in the first year out of the gates for Giga 3 which is driving some strength for Tesla as well as Model Y deliveries starting to ramp as well," said Ives.

Tesla has gained 121% year-to-date.