Tesla stock falls 3% after Q3 deliveries miss estimates

Tesla ( TSLA ) reported third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday that slightly missed expectations, sending the stock down about 3%.

The electric vehicle maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months ended Sept. 30, up 6.4 percent quarter-over-quarter to mark the first quarter of rising shipments this year. The figures also came ahead of the 435,059 electric vehicles the company delivered in the year-ago period.

Wall Street had expected Tesla to deliver closer to 463,897, according to Bloomberg.

The Model 3 and Model Y accounted for the largest share of Tesla’s total, with the two vehicles combining for 439,975 deliveries.

Before the delivery numbers were released, Tesla’s stock had risen about 20% in the past month, fueled by optimism about its upcoming robotaxi event on Oct. 10 and good news coming out of China indicating an increase in sales there.

But investors also debated a “significantly lower” annual vehicle growth rate that Tesla warned about after the first quarter.

The company is currently facing stiff competition in China from Chinese automakers such as BYD and Xpeng. Recent price drops have also squeezed profit margins as competition intensifies.

Analysts said next week’s robotaxi event will serve as a pivotal moment for the company’s future and its plans to continue using artificial intelligence.

“We believe Robotaxi Day will be a seminal and historic day for Musk and Tesla and marks a new chapter of growth around the future of autonomous, FSD and AI at Tesla,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Tesla will report third-quarter earnings on October 23.

Alexandra is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow X @alliecanal8193 and email them at [email protected]

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow it further Twitter and further Instagram.

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