In financial results, Tesla reported lower than expected third quarter revenue, as the global EV leader delivered fewer vehicles than expected.
Tesla’s revenue for the third quarter was $21.45 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $21.96 billion, according to data from Refinitiv, Reuters said.
Tesla’s stock price has been under pressure since early October, when it reported global sales and production for the third quarter.
Tesla missed market expectations but still delivered a record 343,830 vehicles for a 42 percent increase over last year. In the U.S., the Automotive News Research & Data Center estimates a 47 percent sales increase for the quarter, to a record 114,000 vehicles.
Tesla’s stock market valuation is partially based on its plan to grow to millions of units annually, compared to last year’s sales of 936,172 vehicles. Musk has speculated Tesla could be selling 10 million to 20 million cars a year in the early part of the next decade.
Through the first nine months of 2022, Tesla’s sales growth ran at about 45 percent. The company said it’s still on track to hit a 50 percent production increase, putting it at about 1.4 million. But as Musk said Wednesday, deliveries may fall below that target.
One possible sign of easing demand, according to some analysts, is the 22,000-unit gap between production and deliveries in the third quarter. Tesla is usually able to deliver the vast majority of its production through aggressive end-of-quarter pushes.
Tesla said in a statement that all of the 365,923 third-quarter vehicles had been ordered by customers, but that it faced challenges securing enough transportation to deliver them.
In the U.S., Tesla is also facing its first signs of real competition in the EV market.
“Its market share in the U.S. electric vehicle market may come under threat as legacy manufacturers ramp up battery-only car production, while demand for [EV] propulsion technology could wane once early adopters are satisfied,” Bloomberg Intelligence said.
