San Francisco, California – Tesla shares experienced a decline on Wednesday following the electric vehicle maker’s announcement of first-quarter deliveries that failed to meet analysts’ expectations. Tesla delivered 336,681 vehicles and produced 362,615 in the quarter, down from the previous year’s numbers of 386,810 deliveries and 433,371 vehicles produced. This dip in production was attributed to the shift of some Tesla facilities to producing the refreshed Model Y, which was released earlier in the year.
Analysts had anticipated 393,000 deliveries and 462,160 vehicles produced. However, according to Visible Alpha, these estimates fell 14% since Tesla’s fourth-quarter results were reported in January. As a result of the disappointing news, Tesla’s stock saw a decline of over 4% shortly after the market opened on Wednesday. While the stock has risen by 50% from the previous year, it has also lost nearly half its value since reaching a record high close to $480 in December.
In its latest quarterly report, Tesla fell short of its delivery and production estimates, marking its first annual decline in deliveries. Despite this setback, the company announced its expectation for deliveries to return to growth in the future. Concerns have been raised this year over CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration and its potential impact on the company. Some of Tesla’s biggest supporters on Wall Street have called for Musk to better balance his time between his roles in the government and his companies.
Protests and vandalism have targeted Tesla dealerships recently, with reports indicating a decline in sales and registrations in China and various European countries in the beginning of the year. The company is set to release its first-quarter results after the market closes on April 22. Market observers will be closely watching these results to see how Tesla plans to rebound from the challenges it faced in the first quarter.