Tesla (TSLA) announced third quarter deliveries on Wednesday that missed expectations, sending the stock down more than 5% in early trading.
The EV maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months to Sept. 30, up 6.4% quarter over quarter but below the 466,000 EVs 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 represented the bulk of Tesla’s overall total, with those two vehicles combining for 439,975 deliveries.
Prior to the delivery numbers' release, Tesla stock had been up around 20% in the past month, fueled by optimism about its upcoming robotaxi event on Oct. 10 and good news coming out of China indicating rising sales there.
But investors have also debated a “notably lower” annual vehicle growth rate, which Tesla warned about after the first quarter.
The company is currently dealing with stiff competition in China from Chinese automakers like BYD and Xpeng. Recent price cuts have also squeezed profit margins as competition intensities.
Analysts have said next week's robotaxi event will serve as a pivotal moment for the company's future and its plans to further utilize artificial intelligence.
“We believe Robotaxi Day will be seminal and historical day for Musk and Tesla and marks a new chapter of growth around autonomous, FSD, and AI future at Tesla,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.
Tesla will report third-quarter earnings on Oct. 23.
Alexandra is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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