Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock fell over 1% in the early trading hours on Wednesday. This decline comes after the electric vehicle (EV) maker posted a much weaker-than-expected tally of first-quarter deliveries. This disappointing news has prompted analysts to maintain a bearish outlook on Tesla shares.
Tesla (TSLA) recently reported its first-quarter delivery numbers, disappointing analysts and falling short of expectations.
The electric vehicle giant delivered 386,810 vehicles, below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of 449,080. Specifically, Model 3 and Model Y deliveries totaled 369,783, representing a 10% year-over-year decline and missing the expected 426,940 units. Production for the quarter reached 433,371 vehicles, falling short of the anticipated 452,976, with Model 3/Y accounting for 412,376 of that total, below the forecast of 439,194.
Tesla cited several factors contributing to the decline in volumes, including the early phase of the production ramp of the updated Model 3 at its Fremont factory and factory shutdowns resulting from shipping diversions caused by the Red Sea conflict and an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin.
In addition to vehicle deliveries, Tesla reported deploying 4,053 MWh of energy storage products during the quarter.
Wedbush Analysts Warn of “Darker Days” Ahead
Wedbush analysts described Tesla’s Q1 numbers as “an unmitigated disaster,” noting that while they anticipated a challenging quarter, the results were worse than expected.
They emphasized the significance of this quarter for Tesla’s narrative, stating,
“We view this as a seminal moment in the Tesla story for Musk to either turn this around and reverse the black eye 1Q performance. Otherwise, some darker days could clearly be ahead that could disrupt the long-term Tesla narrative.”
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Stock Reaction
TSLA stock dropped 1.77% to $163.88 in the early trading hours of Wednesday. The traders have exchanged hands with 7,645,054 (7.64 million) shares compared to the average daily trading volume of 102.54 million.
