Tesla may have delivered approximately 372,000 vehicles in the past three months, representing an increase of about 11% year-over-year, but it remains one of the lowest quarterly delivery totals for the company in recent quarters.
Despite Musk's strong desire to bet $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ the future on AI, he still needs to raise funds for these ambitious goals by selling cars — and the automotive business is becoming increasingly challenging.
According to a survey of analysts, Tesla may have delivered approximately 372,160 vehicles in the past three months. Although this figure represents an increase of about 11% compared to the same period last year, it remains at the lower end of the company’s recent quarterly totals.
Sales earlier last year were affected by multiple factors: one being the strong backlash triggered by Musk during his tenure in the Trump administration, and the other being production halts caused by updates to Tesla’s most popular model, the Model Y.
Analysts expect sales to be significantly below the peak quarterly levels of recent years for this electric vehicle manufacturer, when Tesla’s deliveries once approached 500,000 units.
As global demand for electric vehicles weakens and the U.S. market currently lacks federal tax incentives for plug-in cars, Tesla is increasingly shifting its focus toward artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and robotics, with slowing sales growth potentially becoming Tesla’s 'new normal.'
Tesla's delivery performance at the start of this year may be relatively slow.
Tesla is also gradually phasing out the low-production luxury electric models, the Model S and Model X, further narrowing its aging product lineup while facing an increasing number of global competitors.
Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, stated, 'If they can demonstrate stable figures without tax credits—at least in terms of deliveries—I think that would be a victory.'
Munster pointed out that investors will focus on data from this period to assess demand in the absence of these tax incentives.
At the beginning of this year, Tesla’s sales in Europe have stabilized, although they remain at a low level. In the Chinese market, however, its performance showed significant improvement, with preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) indicating a 91% surge in exports from its Shanghai factory in February.
Enthusiasm for Musk's future business plans had driven Tesla's stock price to a record high in December, before giving up some gains early this year.
Investors are increasingly inclined to overlook vehicle sales data and instead prioritize signs of progress by Tesla in areas such as Robotaxis, Cybercab, and the Optimus robot project. As long as the electric vehicle business can remain stable or experience moderate growth, it is sufficient to support Musk’s growing artificial intelligence ambitions, which remains beneficial.
Garrett Nelson, Senior Vice President of Equity Research at CFRA, stated that he is focused on whether the company can deliver on its ambitious product roadmap and timelines. He is also monitoring Tesla's plans to increase capital expenditures.
"The focus is not on delivery volumes but rather on broader initiatives, such as the launch of Terafab and the 'spending spree' Tesla is currently undertaking," Nelson said. "Concerns about this explosive growth in spending are indeed affecting market sentiment toward the company."
Editor/Doris