Tesla’s Quarterly Deliveries Experience First Drop Since 2020

Tesla has reported a year-over-year decline in quarterly deliveries — its first fall since 2020. The company stated that the slowdown in its production was the reason it saw a significant drop in sales, which did not meet Wall Street’s expectations. This quarterly downturn in deliveries has increased concerns about the company’s growth expectations for the year.

In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla distributed around 387,000 vehicles across the globe, which is an 8.5% decrease from the same period in 2023. This marks the firm’s weakest quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2022.

Nevertheless, despite the performance slump, Tesla managed to reclaim its position as the world’s leading electric vehicle seller, beating China’s BYD in quarterly sales. However, this decline raises significant concerns for both the global automotive giant and the broader EV market. Growth in the sector is facing challenges, leading automakers to rethink investment strategies because of consumer resistance toward electric vehicles. This is a trend deviating from the industry’s initial forecast.

The first-quarter results caused a stir with investors, leading to shares dropping by around 5% on Tuesday. The company’s stock has dropped 33% in total since the year started, ranking it as the second-worst performer in the S&P 500 index.

An analyst from Deutsche Bank, Emmanuel Rosner, wrote in a note to investors that the issue with the drop in Tesla’s deliveries brings about concerns and questions around consumer demand and whether Tesla will be able to even achieve modest growth this year.

Predictions were lowered for Tesla’s first-quarter performance by analysts over the past few weeks. According to findings from FactSet’s survey, analysts forecasted Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries to reach around 457,000 units in the first quarter. However, these projections may be based on outdated estimates. To add to this, some analysts anticipated even lower results than initially expected.

Tesla stated that production delays experienced during the first quarter of the year were partly responsible for these results.

Initially, Tesla halted production at its Germany plant for two weeks at the end of January due to parts shortages resulting from attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Subsequently, in March, production came to a standstill again following an arson attack on the power grid supplying the factory.

As Tesla revealed its latest version of the Model 3 in the United States, production of the previous versions saw a decline across the U.S.