Dive Brief:
- Due to factory upgrades that led to planned downtimes during the summer, Tesla missed analysts’ vehicle delivery expectations in the third quarter of 2023, the company said Monday.
- Deliveries declined 6.7%, falling from 466,140 vehicles in Q2 to 435,059 vehicles in Q3. According to CNBC, a StreetAccount poll found analysts expected Tesla to deliver 461,640 vehicles in Q3.
- Tesla still plans to deliver about 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, even though production decreased 10.3%, from 479,700 in Q2 to 430,488 in Q3. The EV maker delivered 1.32 million vehicles through Sept. 30, about three-quarters of its annual goal.
Dive Insight:
During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call in July, CEO Elon Musk said the automaker expected Q3 production to dip slightly because of the planned factory upgrades. But the news still left investors disappointed, with Tesla shares down over 2% on Monday morning.
“Even when factoring in the factory shutdowns with no rose colored glasses [Tesla] clearly missed the Street with bulls left disappointed, although we see better days ahead for 4Q/2024,” Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Still, Tesla’s production and deliveries remain strong after a record-setting performance in Q2, with production and deliveries up 17.6% and 26.5% in Q3, respectively, compared with the third quarter of last year.
The automaker will report its Q3 earnings after the market closes on Oct. 18.
