Tesla shares fall after deliveries drop 8.5% from a year ago

Tesla shares
fell
on
Tuesday
after
the
company
reported
a
drop
in
vehicle
deliveries
in
the
first
quarter,
the
first
annual
decline
since
2020,
when
the
global
pandemic
disrupted
production.

Here
are
the
key
numbers:

Total
deliveries
Q1
2024:
386,810
Total
production
Q1
2024:
433,371

Vehicle
production
declined
around
1.7%
from
a
year
earlier
and
12.5%
sequentially
for
Tesla,
not
nearly
as
steeply
as
the
8.5%
annual
drop
in
deliveries.

Tesla
doesn’t
break
out
sales
by
model
but
reported
it
produced
412,376

Model
3/Y
cars
and
delivered
369,783.
It
produced
20,995
of
its
other
models
and
delivered
17,027.

In
the
same
period
last
year,
the electric
automaker

reported
422,875
deliveries
and
production
of
440,808
vehicles.
In
the
fourth
quarter
of
2023,

Tesla
reported
484,507
deliveries
and
production
of
494,989
vehicles.

Deliveries
are
the
closest
approximation
of
sales
reported
by
Tesla
but
are
not
precisely
defined
in
the
company’s
shareholder
communications.

Tesla’s
deliveries
for
the
quarter
fell
far
below
even
the
most
bearish
of
analysts’
expectations.

According
to
a
mean
of
11
estimates
compiled
by
FactSet,
analysts
were
expecting
deliveries
of
around
457,000
for
the
period
ended
March
31.
Estimates
ranged
from
a
high
of
511,000
deliveries
to
a
low
of
414,000
for
the
first
quarter,
with
estimates
updated
in
March
ranging
from
414,000
to
469,000
deliveries.

Independent
auto
industry
researcher
Troy
Teslike,
whose
work
is
closely
followed
by
Tesla
fans,
had
expected
deliveries
to
come
in
around
409,000.

Tesla’s
head
of
investor
relations,
Martin
Viecha,
sent
around
a
company-compiled
consensus
based
on
30
analysts’
estimates
over
the
weekend
to
select
investors.
The
consensus,
which
was
viewed
by
CNBC,
said
analysts
were
expecting
a
mean
of
443,027
deliveries
and
a
median
of
431,125
deliveries
for
the
quarter.

Tesla
faced
numerous
challenges
in
the
first
quarter.

Houthi
militia
attacks
on
shippers
in
the
Red
Sea
disrupted
Tesla’s
component
supply
and
temporarily
suspended
production
at
its
German
factory
outside
of
Berlin
in
January.
In
March,
environmental
activists
set
fire
to
infrastructure
near
that
same
factory,
depriving
Tesla
of
sufficient
operation
power
and
again
causing
a
pause
in
production.

Tesla
said
in
a

statement
that “decline
in
volumes
was
partially
due
to
the
early
phase
of
the
production
ramp
of
the
updated
Model
3
at
our
Fremont
[California]
factory
and
factory
shutdowns.”

In
China,
Tesla
faced
an
onslaught
of
competition
from
domestic
EV
makers,
including
BYD
and
newcomers
such
as
the
phone
maker
Xiaomi.
After
sluggish
sales
numbers
for
its
China-made
cars
in
January
and
February,
Tesla
reduced
production
of
its
Model
3
and
Model
Y
at
its
Shanghai
plant
and
slashed
workers’
schedules
to
five
days
a
week
from
6½
days.

In
the
U.S.,
reviews
were
mixed
for
Tesla’s
newest
model
—
an
angular
pickup
dubbed
the
Cybertruck
—
which
the
EV
maker
only
began
to
sell
in
small
numbers
in
December
last
year.

A
series
of
discounts
and
incentives
appeared
to
be
less
effective
in
driving
sales
volume
than
in
the
past
for
Tesla.

During
the
final
days
of
the
first
quarter,
Tesla
CEO

Elon
Musk
mandated
that
all
sales
and
service
staff

install
and
demo
the
newest
version
of
the
company’s
premium
driver
assistance
system
for
customers
in
North
America
before
handing
over
their
cars.
The
system
is
marketed
as
Full
Self-Driving
but
doesn’t
make
Tesla
cars
autonomous.
They
require
a
human
at
the
wheel,
ready
to
steer
or
brake
at
any
time.

Prospective
Tesla
customers
in
the
U.S.
comprised
a
shrinking
group
in
the
first
quarter
of
2024,
according
to
a

report
by
Reuters
citing
survey
data
from
Caliber.
The
report
attributed
the
drop
in
part
to
Musk’s
persona.

Musk
has
continued
to
bet
that
Tesla
customers
and
shareholders
will
stick
with
the
brand
and
company
regardless
of
his
politics
and

incendiary
rhetoric
on
and
beyond
X,
which
he
owns.

Shares
of
Tesla
dropped
29%
in
the
first
quarter,
the
biggest
decline
since
the
end
of
2022
and
the
third-steepest
quarterly
plunge
since
the
company’s
IPO
in
2010.
Tesla
stock
closed
down
about
5%
on
Tuesday
at
$166.63
per
share.

The
company
has
scheduled
an
earnings
call
for
April
23
to
discuss
quarterly
results.