Analysts are basically lazy and want Tesla to give them guidance on what to model for. Tesla doesn't play that game, at least not in the traditional sense of actually projecting a tight range that they plan on hitting. And that's where the average growth of 50%+ per year came from. Because they know not even they can guess each quarter's results with any accuracy, and they will get hammered for any "misses" of a tight range. So they keep it non-specific while still giving a general picture of what they are thinking.
Saying something is "possible" or "achievable" is different from official guidance in the traditional sense and that is not lost on analysts. Saying you are "pushing to reach 50% growth this year" makes it clear it's a hope or a goal, not a projection of what to expect. Microsoft became famous in the 1990's amongst analysts for always giving a nice tight range and then proceeding to beat it by a nice margin. They were hailed as geniuses for being able to manage analysts expectations. But they were selling software which can be replicated almost effortlessly. It's very different from automaking. And they didn't have COVID shutdowns.
I kind of like Tesla's approach of refusing to provide much more than general aspirations and making sure those aspirations accurately reflect what management is thinking.
