Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported disappointing delivery numbers for the third quarter after upgrades to its factories over the summer, though analysts see things improving for the last three months of the year.
Tesla shares are down 1.1% after the delivery report.
The electric vehicle maker said it delivered 435,059 vehicles in the quarter, while Wall Street analysts were looking for 456,722.
Model S/X deliveries were 15,985, compared with expectations for 17,722, and Model 3/Y deliveries were 419,074, falling short of the estimated 439,362.
On the production side, Tesla manufactured a total of 430,488 vehicles during the quarter, below the estimate of 461,992. Tesla said it expected a drop from the second quarter as it made upgrades to facilities. "A sequential decline in volumes was caused by planned downtimes for factory upgrades, as discussed on the most recent earnings call. Our 2023 volume target of around 1.8 million vehicles remains unchanged,” Tesla said in an update.
Wedbush Securities, which has an outperform rating on Tesla shares, said it sees positive days ahead for the stock. It blamed the miss on longer than expected downtimes of factories in Shanghai and Austin, Texas, that forced the shift of some 20,000 units into the fourth quarter, based on its estimates.
"We believe Tesla is now set to be entering the next stage of growth for the company globally with the Model 3 refresh front and center in China and Cybertruck production set to kick off beginning around Halloween," Wedbush said in a note on Monday, calling them tailwinds for the stock going into the next year.
Model S/X production was 13,688, compared to an estimate of 18,492, and Model 3/Y production was 416,800, falling short of the estimated 454,060.